Calling what they do as mere refinement may be equally understating it in some cases.
They get it right. For the masses. They create beginners.
Anyone can start with an Apple, because it’s what it’s designed to do.
I have my own biases that extreme usability started earlier with other movements like WebOS and Palm contributing to it as well.
Still, if we look for watershed moments where huge numbers of people in the mainstream adopt technology, whether it’s the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, watch, laptops, they don’t need to be the first, just the best for the most number of people.
Being able to integrate hardware and software closely creates a different and reliable result for the many, as much as I might not like having complete agency.
If anything, Apple helps invent beginners in the mainstream.