Neil Cybart, writing for Above Avalon:

Similar to the dynamic that exists between rivaling siblings, having the iPhone become the single-most successful consumer technology product in history has produced an environment in which every subsequent Apple product decision has failed to meet the expectations set by iPhone. As a consequence, questions and doubts surrounding new Apple products and services have emerged even though there are tangible signs of success and progress being made. The iPhone has produced a new type of reality distortion field around Apple.

And:

Even though the Apple Watch has been compared to the iPhone for most of its short life, the true extent of this juxtaposition has been underestimated. In reality, pretty much every single aspect of Apple Watch has been judged through an iPhone filter. From the moment the Watch was introduced in September 2014, the device has been compared to the iPhone all the way down to management’s keynote slides being judged as less clear than those found in the iPhone keynote introduction seven years earlier.

To be fair, at least up to now, without an iPhone, you have no use for an Apple Watch. The Apple Watch is designed as a satellite device. Over time, this will likely change, as the Apple Watch gains more and more capabilities that can reflect to the cloud instead of to the iPhone to which it is tethered.

A better comparison would be the Apple TV and it’s associated ecosystem. Apple TV sales are not pinned to the ups and downs of the iPhone.

It is difficult to argue the iPhone shouldn’t change the definition of success for Apple. If management’s singular goal is to remain relevant, then a natural extension of that goal is for Apple to build off of the iPhone’s success. Some may call this a burden. Others will say it is a gift. However, the dilemma that has formed over the years is that the iPhone’s sheer success has altered the way we perceive success and the path needed to achieve greater success. People want Apple to introduce new products just as successful as the iPhone only without the multi-year timeline and version reiterations that the iPhone went through.

Absolutely. The iPhone is one of the most successful products in history. Hard not to judge the rest of Apple’s products, from now through forever, through that lens.