Transmission programming is pretty much the major cause of poor shifting and has been for probably two decades now or more.
Now it's even more relevant as more and more different makes and models use the same third party unit, but the programming is done by vehicle manufacturer.
Toyota will eventually fix Highlander transmission programming, but given that their only job was to write the code, as the tranny itself was designed and manufactured by someone else, they should've gotten it right upon release.
Same goes for other manufacturers, they are simply getting complacent figuring that the customer will eventually get the fix.
It's just but one example of why buying a freshly released model, no matter its prior reputation, should be avoided