Let's put it into perspective. A11 had 3x less bandwidth, 5x less flops, node that's a lot worse(since then we had N7, N7P, N6, N5 and it's many variations). Such big leaps are problematic in terms of project management. Just ask C++11 people. Or Intel, with their EUV nodes. Or anybody else who decided to shoot to the moon. Having intermediate deliverables has an immense value on its own. I'd argue that we are getting much better phones this way than we would have otherwise.