Its unlikely anyone is buying a phone because of how thin it is (within reason), but it is quite likely that they are more likely to learn about a new phone available to buy if it is "impossibly" thin. Advertising is important — even for recognized names like Apple.

My dad had his phone stolen a couple months ago. He bought a used one of Craigslist to replace it.

I'm curious if the new shinies will make him want to upgrade. If it was just iPhone 14, revision 4, I doubt he would care.

In a month we'll get the inevitable slew of stories about bent and broken iPhone Airs as sure as water is wet. I really don't care how thick my phone is, I care that when I drop it, it's not automatically broken.

I generally like and buy Apple stuff, but yeah, I'm weary as hell. I don't do subscriptions and I don't like the tech bros--agree 100% with the rant on here about how crappy everything has become--"enshitification."