Comment by catoc

At this point it's basically like car models years. They rev them annually and make a few improvements but they're actually going longer between major redesigns. If they didn't bump the numbers every year people walking into stores would be worried about paying lots of money for an old phone that will soon be replaced by a much newer model.

I feel like iOS 27 is a step in this direction, in terms of sanding off the rough edges of iOS 26.