No matter what happens in the world someone will blame it on a top down conspiracy decided in some smoke filled back room.
Otherwise saying it is definitively true is misleading to put it mildly.
Whatever is it that you're saying that Apple does, it's either not obvious or they're shit at it.
like Charlie Munger have said: "Show me the incentives and I will tell you the outcome"
Reality is that designers, product managers, engineers — they all wanna build cool things, get promoted, make money etc.
You don’t do that by shipping plain designs, no matter how tried and true. The pressure to create something new and interesting is ever present. And look we have these powerful Apple silicon chips that can capably render these neat effects.
So no I don’t think it’s a shadowy conspiracy to come after your iPhone 8. Just the regular pressure of everyday men and women to build new and interesting things that will bring success.