"curly line that doesn't match the rest of design style, indicating a reply" is cloning exactly how twitter announced they were copying reddit's threads.
iCloud is a service that Apple holds users' encryption keys with, and gives up control of to other organizations (which is what they did in China, for example). Given their focus on privacy is almost purely superficial, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.
When I wrote that, they were talking about many non-improvements and slight adjustments to iOS. I'd say the bikeshedding peaked at the AirPods segment.
I don't think they should be focusing on anything in particular; they know their market better than I do, and it seems plausible that consumers prefer bikeshedding rather than major change. I'm just saying it bores me.
This is the first time in a long time where the Mac segment has been the most interesting thing, and I'd say that they should probably start doing what they're doing to the Mac to iOS. Even if it's not necessarily things I think that are positive, it's exciting.
Kind of mundane. Apple's chips trump many desktop chips, so I imagine the Mac might get an edge on performance again, which would be interesting. They're probably going to blow it though.
"You all have trouble sleeping so we're going to make your phone teach you yoga and meditation" is a very weird thing to do automatically instead of just blue-light reduction (which they already have a feature for) seems weird, but they know the market better than I do I guess.