It IS much easier. Given that you only have to worry about 2 devices, with 2 resolutions (2x scaling is handled pretty well), it's perfectly possible to make a pixelperfect layout off a PSD (of course, things get a bit complex with font sizes, etc, but autolayout helps out).
It's "easier" in the same sense that it's easier to hack up a quick website in PHP than it is to write kernel driver.. (though the magnitude of the difference is not as great as that example picked for illustration).