Phones are merely shells, its the infinite canvas of software that needs to become more innovative. Its not just Apple; pretty much every manufacturer has been reiterating the LG Prada for the last 22 years.

I don't know why the market dunks on phones so much though. They might have lost some weight since then but pretty much every modern laptop looks the same as the 2001 Powerbook G4 but does anyone complain?

They don't need to because products eventually settle into a standardised, ideal form. If its not millennia-old products like spoons and bricks its modern classics like the Porsche 911. Tesla might have revolutionised cars but they still look like every other car on the roads.

There is a reason things never change: https://medium.com/macoclock/why-does-the-mobile-industry-copy-apple-dbb04b44b88d