no2arealike

Without a consumer-usable or at least visible AI assisting service in the OS, future improvements in hardware are going to be dismissed by consumers with two words: "so what?" It could be a conversational Siri that can take on projects, remember discussions and context, do brainstorming and the like. It could be a WWSJD service, predicting What Would Steve Jobs Do in any situation. But there has to be some tangible benefit from the hardware or it will erode Apple's cool factor and quickly. 

This may be why Apple is so hell bent to thin and lighten the iPhone, even at the expense of battery life. For many use cases, a $600 peripheral will be overkill; the phone itself will be the preferred display. It can snap into an inexpensive holder that fits your face.