Is there a real, large exodus though? I don’t notice that, anecdotally, but others seem to (seemingly anecdotally too). Are there data about it? For the segment that are “professionals” or for work use, for example? At least broadly, 3Q saw Mac sales decline 7.5 percent YOY. But, the whole PC industry declined. So, I’m not sure what conclusions to draw — and in the absence of that it seems a bit hard to swing either way in claims.
When I setup my iPhone, it asked me if I wanted Siri up front, instead of sneaking the functionality in.
Later, I was able to go to Settings and switch it on or off.
I don't see how your above example is at all egregious -- people retain full control.
Compare this to Windows 10 (at launch) turning on a whole host of privacy-compromising features and not giving clear control to the user (but I was glad to see at a more recent setup I did that I now can toggle it off even at first install, and that I can look it up later)
To steelman your argument, I would propose instead talking about lack of browser rendering engine control or lack of ability to install arbitrary executables. That's actually something people have no/little control over. But even then, there is a reasonable debate to be had.
Know any other data?