Most of your post sums up exactly the problem. None of the things Apple had done is their own design or process. It's just other people's patent and hardware packed in Apple colors and and boxes.
Where is the next iPad? Where is the next iPhone that offers more than a extra lense?
But yeah, not everyone is willing / want to try new devices and ideas to move forward. And I seems like that is what we are getting these days, and people dont have a problem with it.
Steve Jobs said it: Stay hungry.
I'm sure he didn't mean money
I feel that a lot of accomplishments by Apple really come into themselves when compared with what the competition is doing. We have seen a lot of "Apple should do X" comments over the years, and they have largely been woefully shortsighted in hindsight. Which in turn speaks of the immense discipline that Apple has demonstrated in not jumping on the bandwagon or in caving to public pressure.
I could probably write an entire essay on this, but the general trend I am seeing (which constantly frustrates me) is that nearly everything Apple does is doubted and criticised. Despite having a $2.7T market cap, it is Apple that is constantly needing to prove itself. Meanwhile, the actions of every other company does not seem to have received the same level of scrutiny. More often than not, they often form the basis of numerous "Apple should do X" articles to insinuate that Apple is no longer innovating and lagging behind its peers.
Nobody is willing to even entertain the possibility that maybe, just maybe, it's Apple who was right and the rest of the world who was wrong all along. Or in the very least, just because a company is doing X doesn't mean Apple has to follow along.
Just some examples off the top of my head:
1) Netflix saw a net loss in subscribers and its stock price cratering, which has shone the spotlight on its numerous questionable decisions, from raising monthly prices to prioritising quantity over quality to blaming account sharing for the lack of growth.
In contrast, Apple has been fairly disciplined in controlling their spending on new content, while resisting the siren's call of splurging on a back catalogue (contrary to what Amazon has done in acquiring MGM). It's been more than two years, and TV+ is growing to have quite a formidable selection of original content (all of which cost Apple nothing to host), and even gotten Apple its first Oscar award (making you wonder just what Amazon and Netflix have been doing all this while).
I will say credit ultimately goes to the oft-maligned Eddy Cue, who is overseeing Apple's overall content distribution strategy.
2) Spotify's podcast strategy architect has left the company, throwing into question their strategy of trying to monopolise podcast-related advertising, and their overall commitment to their core business music streaming and to musicians. I also hold zero sympathy for a company who is trying to use the EU to blast holes in Apple's App Store model, especially when they are clearly not the scrappy underdog they are painting themselves to be.
3) Peloton is struggling to find its next marginal customer (seems there are only so many people willing to buy pricey exercise gear and pay a monthly subscription on top of that). In contrast, Apple has leveraged on the Apple Watch to sell Fitness+ subscriptions at a fairly accessible price, and bundled it into Apple One to boot, further increasing its stickiness.
So I don't understand why people think Apple should acquire Peloton, unless they are existing Peloton shareholders looking to cash out.
4) The iPhone's market share is reportedly improved relative to Android. I credit Tim Cook's long term strategy of building a formidable ecosystem around the iPhone which makes iPhone users more predisposed to using other complimentary Apple services and hardware over the competing alternatives.
People wonder how it is that Apple can possibly keep growing, and I say - why not? When there are still plenty of iPhone users that Apple can continue selling hardware and services to, and Apple's install base continues to grow with each passing day. The sky's the limit really, I feel.
5) Facebook is reeling from massive competition from the likes of Tik Tok and let's not forget the impact of ATT.
Staying hungry doesn't mean flushing money down the toilet in an endless rabbit hole of endeavours that may make for catchy blog headlines, but don't result in a meaningful improvement in the end user experience for customers.