> Aren't they allowed to sit on the iPhone? Why must they come up with amazing new stuff when they've already got a mountain of cash and loyal fans who love the point release updates?
If you're not growing, you're stagnating or declining. If Apple don't continue to innovate, then someone else will pick up the baton. Android continues to get better and better as a mobile OS, and the Android ecosystem continues to get better too. Linux and Windows both have some improvements over macOS, although macOS is better than them in other ways; if Apple continues to under-invest here then there won't be much reason to run its software, meaning there won't be much reason to buy its hardware. We've already seen that Apple's hardware itself is not as good as it could be, which means that offerings from other companies are comparatively more competitive.
> In other industries like cars, the manufacturers don't necessarily create hugely different models every year, but only small improvements on last year's model, and they seem to do okay.
I don't know if I'd go that far. On the one hand, cars haven't radically changed in decades (they still have four tyres, a steering wheel, windows, seats; most use internal-combustion engines), but OTOH they have changed: roll cages, crush zones, airbags, infotainment systems, heated & cooled seats, more intelligence, electric engines.
And indeed it's the models which do offer the most innovation which get the most attention. I don't know if they're the most profitable though.