I assume they mean by comparison to what they would have gone for in an alternate timeline where Apple hadn't bungled the design in the first place.

They could have released another five years of evolutionary updates to the MBPr line instead, and then everything released between 2015 and the first half of 2020 would have looked less obsolete by comparison. i.e. There would be more demand in the used market for those machines if they were more cosmetically similar, even if lacking Apple Silicon and mini LED screens.