The actual complaint here appears to be that a iPhone sync can't be interrupted. Is that true? The reboot complaint appears to be a complete misdirect and a non-issue.
There’s no way to interrupt the process or force the reboot just like with any other process.
That said, the idea that your phone is now a "critical task" is none too heartening.
It's my fucking computer. If I want it to reboot, it should fucking reboot. If I want it to shut down, it should fucking shut down.
I don't intend to be hostile towards you. I'm just sick of losing more and more control over my own devices which I purchased with my own money.
I really hate this (not so recent) concept of having to ask my computer “pretty please, with sugar on top, do this thing.” When I command my computer to do something I expect it to do that thing immediately. Not ask me if I’m sure, not do it later when it’s not too busy, not do something else because AI. Do it right now! Even the wording has changed. We used to command our computers, now we issue requests. And maybe if the computer feels like it, it will actually listen to the user.
On PCs it all started with the “shutdown” button. Used to be, when you wanted to turn your computer off, you flipped the mechanical switch and it’s off. Now we have all these buffers to flush and caches to sync, and inscrutable background tasks doing god knows what that you have to wait for. So now instead of the switch you need to ask very nicely: “Please oh wise computer, do this thing that was instant and reliable before!”
You own your car but you don't demand the right to turn it off any time you want, nor to drive any way you want. You don't do it because you know there are consequences if you do. If you're happy with bad things happening "because I have the right to do it", then well... by all means proceed.
You have presented no argument.
It's bad enough that it's impossible for anything to be perfect, and so even when you do your honest best, I will not be in control of my car once in a while because something simply broke. (I pressed the brake, the car didn't stop)
But there is no excuse for artificially injecting avoidable breakage by having things decide not to work, on top of the unavoidable honest breakage.
It is ultimately, and fundamentally, wrong to try to predict all valid actions ahead of time and provide some sort of managed answer for all the actions you though of and decided are the universe of valid actions.
You fooled me.
If you stop in the middle of a firmware upgrade, it's a bit more fussy; a good process would just need to be started over, but sometimes you need to do an emergency procedure (and sometimes the emergency procedure involves an external firmware programmer, which is exciting).
killall Finder
?