They were never first to market with a category of product, that's just not in their DNA. Even the Apple I was a computer largely similar in terms of features to a multitude of others on the market, but it wasn't a direct copy of any of their competitors.

Their ideal product entry point is when consumers are familiar with the product but are unhappy with the current offerings because they lack the right contextual fit.

Maybe if you have a specific example here of where Apple's flagrantly copied something like Xiaomi has we can talk specifics.