The iPhone can operate just fine without a computer. Any files that are stored on the Mac are really not a requirement of the normal operation of the iPhone.
However, having said that, any backups stored on the Mac will be unavailable to the iPhone should you need them later.
Can you tell us what iOS storage data you wish to delete?
If you are trying to free up storage space on your MBP, I suggest you focus on photos, videos, application installer packages and other unused downloads. Move these files to an external storage device and then delete them from the internal drive.