I'm as cynical as the next person - probably even more so. But, I have come to recognize that there is value in "pretending". It establishes what our societal values are, even if we don't live up to them. This allows us to critique the failures, and work towards a better world with fewer failings.

So, is Apple actually going to back down from this and respect that computing devices should fully serve the interests of the owner? Perhaps not, and likely not to the point of allowing end user customization, software modification, etc. But I'd much rather live in the world where we say that Apple should do so, and they nominally agree. Where we keep holding their feet to the fire, by pointing to the hypocrisy when they reference lofty values. The alternative is to continue down the path where we just accept Surveillance Valley's expedient panopticons, and they move on to destroying the next societal value they find inconvenient.