genuinely curious as to why people choose that brand, are alternatives really that bad?

As I see it:

• you pay for the hardware and software, which is fine, but
• if you want to upgrade the OS, you have to pay once again, but this doesn't work if your hardware model stops being supported. Why pay for something with a limited life expectancy?
• you cannot get rid of bloatware, only hide it
• software is made specifically to be only compatible within their ecosystem. If you want to build up on existing software and hardware, you either stay in their system and keep paying them or start anew with a freer alternative.
• I find it ridiculous they use fancy names to name even their support staff instead of just calling it support staff. Why make things complicated?
• I don't understand why they use pentalobe screws instead or regular ones (with a line or a cross section)

Feel free to correct me, I may be misguided.