Apple realized that their business model did not depend on acquiring as much info as possible about their users. Instead, they sell devices with a solid profit,

Apple realized that their business model did not depend on acquiring as much info as possible about their users. Instead, they sell devices with a solid profit, and provide a user experience in order to make these devices compelling. Therefore playing the privacy card gives them a market differentiator against those who are mainly into the ad business, and who must collect as much intimate data as possible in order to run competitive ad platforms.