Macworld - There's a lot of words at the beginning of the article that translates roughly to strategy tax. Kidding aside, Snell actually has a great point near the end of the article. Apple is supporting older devices for longer, case in point the new OS goes back to the iPhone 5s, meaning that your expensive uber phone can stay in your pocket for longer.

To me, it's a valid strategy to combat the slow commodification of the smartphone. As cheap and surprisingly useful phones become the norm, Apple needs to make the same case for its phones that it makes for its computers. They cost more but will last much longer than the competition.