Again, there are other options for both. Android wear devices are still a thing, and there are multiple options that aren’t SMS that are available to the Android ecosystem.

If you want to live in the Apple ecosystem, that comes with some tradeoffs. Can’t have it both ways.

The entire point of the saying that you can't have your cake and eat it too is that, well, it can't be both in your hands and in your stomach. But it's perfectly possible for me to be able to call Apple and get a bootloader unlock code, without any other change to anything.

That's essentially what the parent comment is trying to do. When offered the Android ecosystem as an alternative, the counterpoint was to lament the lack of Apple Watch and iMessage support in the Android ecosystem.

This is textbook "I want it both ways".

This is the definition of wanting it both ways.

I don’t think anyone would argue that it’s technically impossible, but that should not be mistaken with “practically impossible” given Apple’s business model.

On iPhone you don't have that option, and you have no way of knowing if your phone was compromised.