Wow, I did not know that. Now that you put it like that, it's just a dumb redesign for the sake of it, they didn't took advantage of the "infiltrator/combat machine" concept at all.
Take TSCC for example, the producers were prohibited to use the T-800 or it's designs in the show so they came up with the T-888 which is a upgraded T-800 in many ways.
For example, the designers noticed that the T-800 is susceptible to attacks from behind, so the 888 has armored plating.
Should the T-888 come into close contact with humans, or is incapacitated (such as the spine broken), it can use it's thighs (which now has blades) to decapitate humans.
I love these kinds of redesigns because they weren't just messing with the lore, they had no choice due to copyright so might as well introduce some logical upgrades.