iPhone 4S: Faster CPU, faster graphics, faster network connectivity, better camera.
Big product announcement over 1.5 hours, lines forming in front of AT&T and Verizon stores, hell breaking loose. "It's the most amazing iPhone yet."
3.5th-gen Apple TV: Faster CPU, faster graphics, faster network connectivity.
A press release that basically assures us that the product is not worse than the previous revision, that you won't benefit from all those upgrades and that you won't even notice that it was upgraded in the first place.
Anybody who bought an iPhone 5 recently, please check your model number - you might have received an iPhone 5S. Rest assured that it's not worse than the iPhone 5.
Seriously though,
would it have hurt to add some new features that make use of the better performance and announce it as an update?