With every new product Apple announces, there are more people with lukewarm reactions. For Gizmodo, the iPad 3 is “Better Than Anything Else, but Kind of a Letdown”
I don’t think Apple expects you to purchase a new iPhone, iPad, or AppleTV every year. (They’d certainly love if you bought one year-after-year.) But most people will buy another one sooner or later.
Apple updates its hardware to make their products more appealing to anyone who’s in the market for a new device, including new users. Even if the improvements each year are marginal, for the person who did not buy one the previous year, the new model is almost always a noticeable improvement.
We do the same with software, of course. We update and improve software to increase the value of the product for existing users and for new users. Often for the same price, Apple increases the value of their devices for potential new buyers.
So buy a new iPad. Or wait for the next one. No one cares.