I don't think the bar is unreasonably higher for free software, I think the bar is unreasonably lower for Apple. Apple has a few advantages that make this the

I don't think the bar is unreasonably higher for free software, I think the bar is unreasonably lower for Apple. Apple has a few advantages that make this the case: a) they have really good marketing and b) they will always be compared against Google, Meta and Microsoft, which make their money from selling your data (either directly or through targeted advertising); whereas Apple makes their money from selling overpriced hardware. But Apple is not pro-privacy, it is just less anti-privacy than other companies. And there are still people like me which would never use their products on principle.