If I buy a laptop from Lenovo, and it uses a signed GPLv3 bootloader, and I want to modify and run a new version of that bootloader, I'm prevented by the lack of a signature. That action is exactly what the license demands Lenovo permit.
Now, obviously this collides badly with the security requirements of the system. So it's likewise totally reasonable to imagine a court flipping the other way and refusing to literally enforce the GPLv3 because of the potential damage to the market. But if that happens, then what gives Lenovo any right to ship that GPLv3 software at all? Now they're subject to the bootloader authors demanding they stop shipment of the infringing product.
No, the permissively-licensed shim compromise was the right choice.