In the Bay Area, what you have said in the second sentence is thankfully not the case at all. A few varieties that I have tasted in the Bay Area (most of them quite regularly):

1. Red Delicious 2. Gala 3. Fuji 4. Pippin 5. Macintosh 6. Granny Smith 7. Golden Yellow 8. Mutsu 9. Pink Lady 10. Arkansas Black 11. Jonagold 12. Golden Ambrosia 13. Honeycrisp 14. Braeburn 15. Empire 16. Enterprise