I think the argument is that a job is more than just about salary, as long as you're getting paid enough to live comfortably, because there's more to job satisfaction than your paycheque. In the case of Apple, that comes in the form of working in a good (pro-design) environment, on a good design team, on projects that people actually use. On top of that, you're working for a famous company on highly visible products, which is an additional bonus on top of the rest of the job.

I certainly would never tell someone to take a crappy job because of visibility, but if you're getting paid enough, then highly visible work is a 'nice to have'.

You're creating a false dichotomy. One can be good at negotiating salary and still choose a job that comes with high demands.

It's obviously not a myth that each job can help you get the next. Else why does anyone prepare a resume? Or do an internship?