Additionally, it may be a way of hedging their bets. If it all goes smoothly, great. However, if it turned into a big flaming dumpster fire, an iOS point releas

Additionally, it may be a way of hedging their bets. If it all goes smoothly, great. However, if it turned into a big flaming dumpster fire, an iOS point release has a lot less to lose than a major release (and the associated new hardware that comes with one). "iOS Update Causes Widespread Outages" plays a lot differently with the average person on the street (who already distrusts software updates in general) than "New iPhone Fundamentally Flawed". Feel free to craft your own hyperbolic headlines, but hopefully you get the idea. If there is any way to link software issues with an iPhone launch, media outlets will do it to grab views from people considering a purchase (i.e., damage to the product launch). The same isn't true of an update; it damages the perception of the ecosystem, but most people don't even know what a software ecosystem is.