> Generally speaking most the other examples are iterations done to keep up with design trends

And that is what I believe to be the crux of the problem. The trends have been regressions rather than improvements.

I have a few theories as to why this happens too but none of them are particularly complimentary towards Apple, et al.

And to be clear, Apple are far from the worst offenders here. Pretty much every company that releases new software or hardware feels the need to change things so it looks “fresh” and people keep buying their stuff. It doesn’t matter if it results in design regressions because by the time people realise they don’t like it, they’ve already bought that shiny new thing.

"Notes" are now indistinguishable from the "Calendar" at the first glance. "Game Center" is ridiculous, I have no idea what it even symbolizes. "Dictionary" looks more like spell checking settings?

And "Photo Booth" looks like a mouth with a strange tongue sticking out.