Well, I'm mainly thinking about updates that patch known vulnerabilities. Android phones kinda leave you hanging in the wind for a while after the first year. Indefinitely, after 2 or 3 years. The iPhone 6s was supported for seven years.

But no, they don't reinvent the wheel with each update. Why would they? My wife just got a Galaxy S22 and it got the Android 13 update her S10 didn't. It's the same thing. Granted, Android has a lot more customization, but Samsung's Android 13 update certainly fit the bill of "hardly does anything for the user interface" that you're trying to paint iPhone updates with.