This is not going to be popular but Apple’s walled garden is why I am a customer. The fact that they don’t carry decades of baggage into to their ecosystem is a benefit. Did I hate that I had to leave a perfectly fine 2012 iMac because no more updates and missing features? Sure, but I got a decade out of one computer.
They control the hardware and software in a tightly integrated manner that works great. People who complain about this not being open… you’ve got other options. To me, it’s a product differentiator.
Before someone says I’m not capable of using a “real” OS, I ended up here in 2007 due to OSX with its *nix backend. I started time sharing on a VAX8800, built a career on Sun stuff, jumped to Linux in 1994 doing development (submitted driver updates, FAQs and more). I’ve never looked back and I’m certain I am as efficient and productive as I can be. I use Linux and Windows as well but for different things.
I get your point, but third-party app stores are optional. You can still only download apps from THE App Store.
And I get what you mean, when it comes to the longevity of devices. I feel like this will change in the future, but time will tell.
