I think Apple's situation is a bit different from most PC manufacturers: because they aim for "quality/brand/recognition" they can get a crowd that is fine with

I think Apple's situation is a bit different from most PC manufacturers: because they aim for "quality/brand/recognition" they can get a crowd that is fine with replacing their computer more often even if they don't need to. "the new thingy that does mostly the same as before but new" won't work on someone who buys the $600 HP laptop. It does still work on phones, but the improvement are a lot more massive both hardware (camera especially) and software. That's why apple NEEDS to go with touchbar and new connectors magic and everything because why else would you change, already on HN you see plenty of people saying they're fine with their 4+ years old mbp. If you rely on a "premium product at premium price" you need to make people want to have it, and for them to replace it that's either obseleting the old one, or making the new one Downside of this of course, is that it's harder to rely on that anymore when you try to grab mass market too.