I think it's a Jony Ive problem. He has too much power now and all he cares about is how cool the product looks in the store. When Steve was around, he could counterbalance Ive with concern about function, but nobody seems to have that role any more.
I have a hard time believing this sort of conspiracy theory - it would mean that design changes that impact quality (and thus things like costs to Apple for hardware warranties and returns) have no chain of responsibility.
