[lloeki]

You can set up a Mac or iOS device without ever logging into an Apple account. The only place it is "required" (well, not strictly required , but I guess an iOS device is not that useful otherwise) is for the App Store to get apps (someone correct me on this but I'm not sure you can download free apps without an Apple account, and there's a way, although convoluted IIRC, to create one without entering credit card details)

[binomialxenon]

Last I heard, you can't download any apps without signing in with an Apple ID. Since sideloading is impractical on iOS, this would make the phone not very useful as you can't install any software.