I think the author merged in two terms of his analysis of performance that are really separate:

- Response Time (how long does it take per task) - Throughput (how many tasks can we complete per N)

For some of us, getting better responses means in-and-out quicker and so its easier to serve more throughput. For apple, they have plenty of capacity, so new product launches aren't really a motivation to improve response. They will we able to support that volume anyway. The motivation would be to improve user experience.