I literally just came from a thread like this in the booth, right into this one.
i'm stuck in a loop
and they told me that this is the first year they've had without steve. they said even though steve died years ago, they had enough of his work to last them for 4 years and now is the real year they've become apple without steve. they also said steve would have hated the apple pen, would have hated the touch bar in the keyboard and would have hated how dorment the ipad has become.
this would explain apples performance this year if true.