Can you leave these beautiful Japanese Gardens once you decided to enter or are you getting jailed there? Because you can't just leave Apples ecosystem unless willing to switch devices+ecosystem of course.
"Switching devices+ecosystem" is leaving the garden. There's really no other possible way to put it in that metaphor. You're not jailed.
The only thing keeping you there is your own desire to retain the things that are...inside the garden. The Apple software. The services. The user experience.
The one thing I can see being upset about is losing access to the software you've purchased. But switching to Apple (or even Linux) from Windows/Android means giving up exactly the same things. That's not about a "walled garden": it's just a consequence of the fact that software has to be written, or at least compiled, for a particular platform, and significant extra effort has to be expended to make it functional across platforms.
I've used Apple for 16+ years. I can leave at any moment.
Most apps I use are cross platform (Adobe CS, Cubase, Resolve), others are web based (Gmail, Basecamp, etc), my music is on Spotify, videos on Netflix and Prime, and my peripherals all work.
>Because you can't just leave Apples ecosystem unless willing to switch devices+ecosystem of course.
Well, I buy new laptop every 4-5 years or so. So if I want to move, I can always do so. If in a rush, I can always sell the old laptop in the first or second year too - with the added benefit that Macs keep their resale value better.
The only thing keeping you there is your own desire to retain the things that are...inside the garden. The Apple software. The services. The user experience.
The one thing I can see being upset about is losing access to the software you've purchased. But switching to Apple (or even Linux) from Windows/Android means giving up exactly the same things. That's not about a "walled garden": it's just a consequence of the fact that software has to be written, or at least compiled, for a particular platform, and significant extra effort has to be expended to make it functional across platforms.