It must be a combination of the delight when I used them, a quirkiness which means I don't experience it anymore, and nostalgia. But I think I know what Lunduke means when he says magical, so I'm ok with that.
It's not simply a placeholder, but refers to a very specific Apple-ness which most are insufficiently articulate to describe in detail.
You know it when you see it, even in non-Apple products (like DJI, for example).
Learned programming in an Apple IIc, and I still remember how much I liked the Apple's and Macintosh computers. Anyway my second computer was an IBM PC, because I wanted to keep up to date with tech. Never liked the colorful clamshell, the lamp, or the fish bowl. But looking at the pixaleted rainbow apple logo in the UI brings the magic back.
How fast we moved from a world of computers are our friends, to computers want to spy and take money from us.
He never bothered to explain why he thinks so. Apple fans are a little too fond of describing their favored products using this word. Counterpoint: like most other technology, they actually work (or fail to work) according to laws which are known, and do so in comprehensible (in principle) ways. Enough with the "magical", already.