You think all the work they do to bring you iOS does not deserve compensation? Or do you not believe that anyone who makes anything may set the price as they wish, and your only choice in a civilized society is to buy or not to buy?
Of course it does. And if iOS brings that much value, then charge a license fee for the purchase of iOS.
But trying to recoup the cost of iOS by taking a cut if store transactions is anti-competitive.
If the store were split off into its own company, would it make any sense to Apple for that company to take all the revenue for the value the store provides? Of course not. Let the store compete on its merits and charge for the value the store provides: API scanning, trusted market place, how publishers are treated... And compete against other stores providing those same values and picking their % cut.
Surely the work there is just as worthwhile as on iOS.
They have been compensated, when people bought the hardware. Anything beyond that is blatant rent seeking and anti competitive.
Replace the word Apple with Microsoft and see how ridiculous their stance is. Even Microsoft didn’t attempt to take a cut of every software and digital good sale.
The closer comparison is with Microsoft's walled-garden game system and store:
"Microsoft's Xbox Store charges a 30% commission on digital game sales and in-app purchases, aligning with industry standards."
And I am eager to apply the sam standard to video game consoles; you can charge 30% to people to use your store, but you can't force them to use it, same as on PCs.