Everyone has their opinion and mine is that the looks really didn't produce an evolution.
The kidney bean headlights were 100% Porsche. They were replaced with something you'd see on many Japanese and Korean cars. That was a big disappointment for me. The 996 Turbo headlights seemed like that evolution and I was hoping to see something like that but with an update tossed in on the 987.
The doorhandle went to a traditional design from the minimalist 986. Didn't like that either.
The air intake....what in the world is that?
A very fluid 986 intake form was replaced with something really bizzare.
Wheels. I haven't seen anything on the Boxster in factory form that I feel would get the 'classic Porsche' brand like the 5 spoke Carreras.
Overall, the fender lines seem more a throw back to the 993 than original Boxster concept that seem more LeMans prototype.
Interior. This is where they really lost me. The materials were a huge improvement from the plastic bits that were never updated from 1997-2004.
That was a mistake. Porsche should have upgraded the materials but kep the concept interior design. What we got instead was what I would call frumpy.
The steering wheel on the 987 and 997 in particular seem very boring to me.
The dash seems more like something you would see on VW or Audi. Porsches shouldn't look like those cars, neither the headlights nor the interiors. I know they're cousins but we are the hot cousin.
All that said, the engineering is obviously a big improvement, particularly the 3.4 engine. But as is always the case with Porsche 'over-engineering' results in a car that feels a bit more disconnected and numb.