Does anyone remember the film days, when a new camera model was introduced every five years or more? Now anything over a year and people are freaking out. I started on the fantastic manual Pentax K1000 which had about a 20 year production run (and I am pretty sure is the best selling camera model of all time).
OK, the t5i does seem unnecessary - why not stick with t4i? But the SL1 I think is great and I am glad they offer it body only. Not for use with large lenses, but with a 20mm Voigtlander pancake for the ultimate quality point and shoot. If I can save up, I may go this route.
Funny how people think 18MP is not enough in an entry level crop sensor camera, yet I see very few complaints about the flagship full frame pro camera 1DX being only 18MP. The rebel line is entry level - do you really think its users are making 40x60 inch enlargements? (I work at a pro lab and I am virtually certain the SL1 and t5i will make very nice enlargements up to 24x36 inches - how many people need more?).
As for AFMA, I use a 5D2, I have large aperture lenses, and I have never had a need for AFMA. Plus, no one is using large aperture lenses on these cameras and it would just be another confusing menu item. I teach beginning photo classes at my lab and trust me, there are way too many menu options already - the average person does not want and will never use all those settings.