People keep pointing to this as a big problem, but the walled garden is not a problem for the average apple user ime.
My experience - the apple system is simply a great bonus point in choosing a device. It is a selling point. I do not feel boxed in or forced into the ecosystem.
I used to hate on everything apple until i decided to try iOS with their mini lineup on iPhone 12 mini. I actually fell in love with the OS and felt dumb for shitting on it this whole time. Is it for power-users? No. But for the average consumer, it feels much nicer than android.
A year down the line I needed a laptop and got an M1 mac, not because I was forced by the iOS, because the mac had great specs for an ultralight and will last me years. Plus it has great interoperability with my phone.
Now I have also an apple TV device - not because I am forced into the ecosystem, because I hated my TVs OS and the apple box had appealing specs and again it had seamless interoperability with my devices as a bonus.