This would be true if iPhone would be only a toy. But it's also the only source of person-to-person communication, source of news and primary computing device for large part of USA population.
And that makes it very different from a PS5. By market share. By use. By impact. And IMPACT is what we're measuring here.
The fact that is is my primary communication device is the REASON I want my iPhone to be a console. I'm paying extra for it.
But this is very important: Nobody has to buy an iPhone. The majority of people around the world buy Android, which does allow side-loading. If you need side-loading as a feature, you have many, many options available.
There's no coercion of consumers going on. There's no mandate to buy an iPhone or to use any part of the Apple ecosystem, and there are abundant alternatives.
Ultimately these arguments against the Apple model are very judgmental and paternalistic. "I think that Experience X is the only morally right thing, thus society must prohibit people who bought and like Experience Y from enjoying it, because I think it's morally wrong."
To me that's a really dangerous line of thinking, and I hope it fails in court.
Where do you draw the line, though? PlayStation / Xbox are basically computers from a technical standpoint. They have hundreds of millions of users. They also store your personal data and credit card information should you provide it.
This would be true if iPhone would be only a toy. But it's also the only source of person-to-person communication, source of news and primary computing device for large part of USA population.
And that makes it very different from a PS5. By market share. By use. By impact. And IMPACT is what we're measuring here.