Since when? Their phones and some tablets are annual. Some computer models are annual now, but not all. The Mac Pro was famously stuck for 4 years, and the current version is 2 years old this summer.
It's really simple, this is VC pyramid scheme at play. Say you put $100M into a company at $1B valuation. A year later you put $250M at a $3.25B valuation. Your $350M is now valued at made up $580M. When the company later sells for just double, $7B, your $350M became $1.2B.
They may have clear path to "when", since they invest. For example, I see some transactions where smaller company is acquired by larger company, and it looks like both companies have the same core investors who guide through this route.
