I'm giving Apple the benefit of the doubt until macOS 27 (but I'm still on 15.7.4 hehe).

Mac OS X and Aqua wasn't very well received either at launch.

A similar thing happened with the flat design of iOS 7.

Apple's pattern is initially going overboard with a new design and then scaling it back slowly like a sculptor.

I think they're happy with this method, even if things miss at first the big changes usually create a lot of hype and excitement for the masses.

The vast majority of users don't care about the finer things, Apple knows that the nerds can sweat it out until they straighten things out at which point everyone is happy in a hero's journey kind of way.

I just hope this pattern stays true and that this isn't an inflection point.