iOS exploits are cheaper than Android exploits because iOS exploits are so plentiful[1][2].
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/14/zerodium_ios_flaws/
Nor is security just about "can the device be exploited or not?".
What are you trying to explain with these articles? How does the existence of iOS exploits support your thesis that Security and Openness can co-exist?
Hopefully if they lose this case (due to the market reality of being a duopoly) then they will be forced to at least entertain it.
Android's way of handling sideloading or multiple app stores is far from the only way to do it. I'm sure Apple could find a better middle ground between what we have now (incredibly locked down, anti-competitive, with arbitrary rules and Mafia-like enforcement of prices) and a total free-for-all.
Wage fixing aside, and that was years ago, the companies don’t appear to collaborate a lot anymore, much less conspire, other than the payments Google makes to retain its position as the default search engine.