Is Apple making us pay to improve this stability? No.
Can we expect this to NEVER improve? Absolutely not.
Um... Yes. You are paying for them to improve stability. I've been through the iMac routine before. I purchased one revision after the other as they improved stability and reliability in each one.
It took them 3 revisions of the iMac G5 to get a model that would finally work and not spend all it's time in the shop. That was basically a 2 year progression towards reliability and stability. And, Apple made us pay for each revision rather than totally fixing the issues with the first and second revisions.
They did replace a lot of hardware. But, they never actually fixed the problem (which was essentially a design flaw). So, many people were just simply limped past the warranty period.
If the issue with the new machines proves to be a hardware design issue, it will remain to be seen whether Apple will repeat it's prior history and just limp the current users through their warranty while releasing a new and improved model without the issue for new buyers. Or, if they will do the right thing and replace the defective part.
A software patch that prevents the symptom of a bad component is not really a fix. It is merely something that makes your system run slightly differently (which may not provide you full performance) so that a symptom is masked or doesn't present itself as noticeable. It doesn't remove the problem. It just covers it up.
Similar to if I take my car to the shop and say that every time I hit 60 miles an hour, the thing starts vibrating and shaking all over the place. So, the mechanic installs a governor on the motor that limits my top speed to 59 Miles per hour. Sure, I'll never see the issue again. But, performance is reduced and the problem isn't truly fixed.
You can't fix hardware defects with software patches. You can hide them. But, you can't fix them.
As for expecting things to improve... I'm sure that in typical Apple fashion, the next revision / model will be improved. The previous buyers will simply be handled in a way that minimizes Apple's expense in getting them through the warranty period.
I learned my lesson with Apple and the iMacs. That's one machine that's just best avoided.
They are very tempting, and I really like them. And, every time they come out with a new model I almost buy one. But, it's the history that seems to repeat itself (which I endured through several revisions), that eventually stops me. Glad I skipped this revision again since it seems lots of issues have arisen (like the issues with the screen yellowing, and the lockup glitches).
