Yeah, but what if the marketing isn’t for consumers?

What if someone at Apple was smart enough to figure out that the rampant abuses perpetrated by privacy-monetizing Silicon Valley et al. were ultimately time-limited and would blow up eventually?

What if Apple’s privacy-focused marketing was aimed at regulators?

It’s a trade off between convenience and security. Consumers _do_ care, just not enough to put unusual amounts of effort in. These moves by Apple make it much easier, and could become things consumers expect from their devices, since they don’t have to give up convenience to have them.

I'd modify your idea to say "consumers generally don't make decisions based on privacy alone" -- a much milder take that leaves a lot of room for experimentation in the future.

On the contrary, I think we’re learning that consumers do care if they feel like they have some basic knowledge and control of their personal data.

They don't care because they don't see what there is to care about. Features like this show them visually how incredibly invasive most apps are.

Everybodyin the world has dirty secrets. When governments were unable to use the data from big companies, it didn't matter.

The more aggressive governments get (for example actively asking social network ids on the border), the more people start caring about their privacy.

The numbers show the company advancing privacy for consumers is reaping 90%+ of the profits in the business. While it’s not conclusive proof, I would say that the company might know something about what their customers want.

They will care. They watch marketing. And that is the point Apple is trying to make.

I assume, next is banners at the Apple Stores and at Best Buys.

Consumers care about what companies and marketing departments tell them to care about.

Apple pushing privacy might actually make people care.