They are still patented I think, but you can buy the trees now. Some of our local orchards have started growing them and I know you can get the trees from nurseries. I don't know if the big box stores have them. You may have to look around.

Ditto! I came across this site some time ago trying to find a place where I could buy a Frostbite (nee Minnesota 447) apple. My aunt has a tree and its apples make a hell of a cider. Turns out that he really likes this particular variety. [0]

I don't think it is rare for a university to have these kinds of breeding programs and put patents on the result. The one near me does that with cherries.

[0] https://adamapples.blogspot.com/2017/11/frostbite-vs-wickson...

Checkout the new cheaper bariany Cosmic Crisp.

Still a bit hard to find it seems but cheaper because less susceptible to rot issues i believe.

I tried it this week. Crispy and a little tart. I think slightly sweeter than Braeburn. I had read about it a few years ago.