That's not strictly true, as Apple's incentives as a business are to prevent user choice, regardless of the privacy benefits of the choice. Therefore if you believe, say, that browser engine choice can help privacy (both individually at a micro level and for the ecosystem at a macro level), then Apple's incentives as a product business align much worse with user privacy on that point. The same can be said for other Apple incentives such as kowtowing to some anti-privacy regimes, disallowing advanced software, etc. Treating this as black and white is just wrong.

To put it more blunt: risking your rep for some additional amount per user isn't worth it, if your margin is already a non-trivial multiple of said amount.

And yet Apple's OS collects more information than Google's. You cannot even write an app for your device without handing over banking details like a credit card. You cannot get your location without also sending that location to Apple. If you're in China, everything in your iCloud is accessible by the Chinese government.

Edit: this is not whataboutism. People are seriously suggesting using Apple devices instead for privacy, when doing so is worse, as I have shown. If you believe anything I've said is false, go ahead and point it out. I've stated these claims multiple times on Hacker News and not once have they been refuted, so I'll be happy to get corrections before I state them again.