Apple is overtly resorting to silly visual gimmicks to make it seem like they are still revolutionary, when in fact they have already looted the market and are now desperate to remain golden to Wall St. They are biding time while they try to understand where this AI thing is going and whether they can make a killing. It's obvious that in the long run the touch visual interface is going the way of the dodo, but no one has yet presented a compelling alternative idiom. It's also becoming clear that AI is not smart; it's more a novel form of compression than a reasoning system and this is unlikely to advance until a new lexicon for agent architecture appears, which none of the Hinton / Altman / Ive apostles have yet received from the AImighty.

Does this reprise MSFT? Yes... But MSFT is far from a corpse.

Apple had its moments, and now they are beholden to the innovator's dilemma. We may be at a turning point in civilization where additional complexity is not advantageous; the next waves will be about simplification.

What "liquid glass" could possibly have to do with innovation is a total mystery. But in the mean time, it's a good way to obsolete old kit and churn into the immediate future.