In terms of a business sense, Apple's move to make privacy a core feature is almost the last differentiator they can make between themselves and other mobile device operators. Android has "won" the mobile phone war in the sense of device count (it wasn't always the case, remember). The premiere Android devices, e.g., Pixel, Galaxy, and some others all tack on hardware features generally superior to Apple's – maybe not all in one, but the BEST of each feature generally belongs to an Android device maker, whether it's the screen, camera, fingerprint reader, or otherwise. Even with Apple's degrading performance to save battery life, they lost the performance crown explicitly (showing they did not prioritize that) and battery life can be beaten by thicker phones which Apple avoids.

So, all that's really left that they can compete with commercially and effectively against Google's Android hegemony is in the one thing neither Google nor their device partners can even deign to pursue – consumer privacy. Apple is, and likely always will be, a hardware company. So, they do not see consumer's private info as a source of revenue. They just need folks to keep buying their devices. They can differentiate by making privacy a feature, something a device beholden to Google or the Play marketplace can never be, which is the vast majority of Android devices out there.