We’re saying the same thing. I already know what I am getting when I buy an iPhone and I am OK with the deal. I would want more but I am trying to be a realist simply because I am not willing to invest weeks in hand-crafting the perfect software stack for my use-cases on a $400 Xiaomi Android device.
Fundamental differences in values. Even with me being a techie I am severely burned out on the “tinkering with stuff I already paid for” front. I want to pay and get the product and services I want. If that is not happening then I might as well go scour my local second-hand market, assemble my own stuff and then look for FOSS software, right? I know I can but I don’t want to.
Without examples this is just generic bashing, dude. 
For 19.5 years of career I only met one guy whose MacBook lost an SSD out of the blue – and he got it replaced the next week (the whole laptop). And one girl who dropped hot coffee on it and then complained the keyboard is partially not working. Well… I’d like military-grade hardware myself as well but apparently there’s no such thing in Apple land.
I mean I get it, anecdotal evidence, filter bubbles etc. are a thing but we should try to keep an open mind. I’ve searched for this on the net and both camps are very well represented: there are people who mostly witnessed Macs crapping the bed in all different sorts of ways, and then there are people like me who worked for 10+ employers during their career (and well over 20 contracts inbetween) and in every team the people were mostly happy with their Macs – barring some cooling / fan annoyances which are sadly innate to all laptops.
Not sure what to think myself. Depending on which side you prefer to listen to you’d arrive at dramatically different conclusions, that much is certain.
Sure, but let’s not assume everyone is you. 
I personally am looking to do more human stuff in my life because I’ve been a work drone most of my conscious life. So buying a cheap Android and making it 100% mine is way down my priority list.
I don’t think there is, Apple just does their best to have their stuff be fast – and they fail even there occasionally but that’s another topic. 
Dedicated enthusiasts will always be better than a corporation. But that’s the pickle right there: for 99% of the things people out there want there doesn’t exist a team of dedicated enthusiasts. I can’t take the risk to wait for somebody to make the perfect budget app that synchronizes its DB in a decentralized manner over encrypted tunnels on Android – one example.
Don’t use Apple. That’s not that their offering. Easy.
When this thread started, I didn’t come here to defend Apple and that’s still not my goal. I came here to urge people not to conflate things. “Apple products aren’t a good fit for me” is NOT the same as “Apple sucks” and I’ll keep saying it!
Also, “Apple is an evil company” is a very 16 year-old thing to say. Most corps, after they go beyond a certain scale, become super evil. It’s like saying “water is wet” from where I am standing. Just stating super obvious things.
Yeah they are evil but in the meantime you can use their products to help you in your life a little bit. If we go down this idealistic rabbit hole – who’s evil and do you want to “support” them by using their products, then eventually you’ll find yourself living in a cave in the mountains with zero technology.