You're right, it's an incredibly pyrrhic decisions that aims to wrestle the meaning of the word towards apple's implementation. I mean, the company is named "apple". This kind of raze-a-language marketing is in their DNA.
Microsoft did it too with Windows and Words (supposedly after a very messy trademark dispute around excel? If I remember well?). This avoids trademark dispute on names (as you can’t trademark generic name alone) and is an effective way for very recognizable brands to extend their branding without adding too much confusion