I guess the operating system part is subjective, but what do you mean with substandard products that need to be replaced frequently?
If anything, the Apple products I had held their value much better than their Wintel counterparts. Writing this on a MacBook Pro from 2017 for example.
I think Apple can be fairly critized for lots of things, but not for the quality of their products. (Especiall not for hardware, their software leave more to be desired, while still being top shelf)
Let's be honest - in terms of reliability, it is very hard to out-compete Apple. What leads you to say they produce substandard products?