Another app though? wouldn't you lose brand equity and an upgrade path to the existing users?

Why would I create a new application?

If you resubmit through creating a new app, it goes to a different reviewer. Be sure to change the name of your old app before you delete it, so you can still use the app name under the same account. Sometimes the new reviewers are more understanding/ might not see a problem with apps that have been rejected before.

E.g. my HN iphone app was rejected 2-3 times for "webviews stuff" or whatever. Once I resubmitted, it had been approved the first time, plus it's been received well by users.

You can't change the name of an app without submitting an update (anymore).

I thought it was a brand new app, but since it's an update. You can try to resubmit the same binary and hopefully that will trigger a different reviewer.

The iPhone version is a brand new app. The iPad versions were updates that they approved. He said they will be taking them down.