I used my sisters S8 for an hour yesterday to goof around and while it's nice, to me it's not leagues and bounds ahead of the 7+. Benefits for me is the narrow design makes it easier to hold and the screen is sharper. Otherwise there were many things I considered my iPhone does better.
I get it, if I was a fan of this brand and 3 years counting it was the same design I'd get annoyed. But then again, I wouldn't buy the latest every year so doubt I'd suffer that problem. Does apple need a change? Sure, I can agree it does. But for a first time iPhone + user, I'm totally content with this current design and still much prefer the overall package I get with 7+ over S8/+