I'm not saying they won't get a flood of resumes for every opening. But the best people, who know they can get a position at any major tech company, will be we

I'm not saying they won't get a flood of resumes for every opening. But the best people, who know they can get a position at any major tech company, will be weighing Apple against the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon. It's possible that Apple has an edge over those in money/environment/opportunity, but it isn't a clear or solid one. The thought of being looked down on by fellow nerds for working at a patent aggressor could turn the balance. And building products with 98th percentile engineers instead of 99th percentile is a big deal. Look at Microsoft.