By and large, the rest of the industry doesn't follow Apple. They copy specific features or hardware cues, but Apple doesn't leave anything for third-party OEMs

By and large, the rest of the industry doesn't follow Apple. They copy specific features or hardware cues, but Apple doesn't leave anything for third-party OEMs to use in the first place. You can't integrate with iMessage, you can't implement AirDrop, and Quick Pairing/Find My is off-limits until you pay licensing fees. Lightning replaces USB with a licensed alternative, and third-parties have to apply for MFi, neither of which is commonplace in the greater smartphone market. The fact that laptops got thinner over time is not evidence that the industry deliberately follows Apple. It's evidence that technology gets smaller, a fundamental observation made 10 years before Apple Inc. was incorporated.