boxcatcher

I understand deliberate delay so as not to jump the gun on new tech, but how can a company with such vast resources suck so much at delivering on its own, publicly-announced promises?

If you're not ready, don't announce.
If you're not sure if you're ready, don't announce.

It's not "high standards" or "quality control" when you think something is ready for primetime and then have to back pedal; it's proof that there's a disconnect between at least two of your departments.

So this is why AirPlay 2 and iCloud Messages have been delayed!

Epic headline

CoreNFC is also a new API allowing for reading of NFC tags.  Only available on iPhone 7 models, so it seems the NFC chip received an upgrade with the new phone.

An elevated AppleCare representative admitted there's a preliminary step that is a little strange if you're a logical English speaker (AppleTV is called a "home hub") ...

I spent 3 hours resetting passwords, toggling iCloud Keychain, etc. because I incorrectly concluded that the AppleTV -- the HomeKit "hub" -- should probably indicate it is setup and connected before I add other HomeKit accessories.

Not so much.  AppleTV won't indicate it is the hub (under Settings > Accounts) unless one HomeKit accessory is already connected. Oh, Apple.