Apple's been doing that from the beginning. They didn't invent the mouse. They saw it being used by Xerox and invented their own version. They didn't invent the touch screen. In fact, I remember when the iPhone first appeared and people here were saying "been around forever in Japan..." and FaceTime? Again, "Everyone in Europe has that. No one uses it..." Apple's way of doing things is to something that others have done and make their own version of it. Sometimes they do "magic" in that their "update" to what others have done for years re-invents it (so to speak), making it feel new and different. It makes users see how to use it when they never did before. It makes users excited about it when they never were before.
And sometimes not. But, yes, they DO get to lag behind the industry and say "we've reinvented this." You get to decide if they're right. But you don't get to say "they don't get to say this..." simply because they're late to the table with it. Late to the table doesn't make what they've done bad. Or the lagging the wrong thing...they may, after all, have lagged on the stereo to integrate it better with other aspects of the phone and improve on things like battery, etc. If they do it really well, better than it's ever been done, then the lagging might be worth it. It doesn't even take away their right to imply they've "reinvented"/improved on the original.
You can try out a 7+ and say "not magical." That's you're perogative. But saying "they can't say this because they lagged behind..." is nonsense. Unless you want to condemn them for always doing that? In which case, fine. But that's Apple. That's what you get. Each and every time.