When the iPhone came out, it was huge. It really was a big deal, and it's only gotten better since then. But the lack of a new huge advancement is playing against Apple. It's not that the competitors have advanced leaps and bounds beyond Apple, it's not that the competitors are necessarily better, but they're different. Even these small differences can be enough to excite a consumer who is growing bored with the minor changes they've seen as they've grown with a platform. It's not that the competition is stronger or something new, it's that the competition is different.

I don't want to be the guy telling Apple what they need to do or not do, the point is that the iPhone is still, at its core, the same as it's been since it was released. Occasionally I get bored with Windows, having used it for two decades and see that it's still the same at the core, and switch to Linux for a few months. It's not that I find Linux better or worse, it's that it's different enough to inspire me out of a slump I might be in.

A change out of a routine can be a very refreshing experience. Apple may realize this, but they may also realize that a lot of their non-technical consumers won't share this viewpoint. For them, routine might be the only comfort they have in the electronic world.