I think this is essentially it. Couple with the thought that there's nowhere else to turn, Apple laptops and phones are the best choice in a bucket of bad choices.

I could list endlessly the issue with iPhones and Macbooks, but they're _just_ more convenient enough to have to use them over alternatives. Lots of little examples like the way that Airpods work when jumping from the same video call on my phone to my Mac for example, add up to be useful enough to put up with just how shitty iPhones are.