And yet, knowing this, people still purchase these products. Apple's reputation, while not spotless, is better than the competitor's on privacy and security. These things, at one time, did't mean as much as they do now. I'm an Apple support and have several devices, but if I see a change in the company, I'll move to something else.
What do mean? A change to user freedom would make you leave?
You do realize apple letting users load their own signing keys can increase device security. Apples signing keys could leak or be given to government's to comply with local laws.
Although in that case a user would have to sign software and OS updates themselves. A little more hassle but more secure since the user now controls the signing keys.
This also gives the device freedom to run any software.
Also lets not forget you cant determine if the code you download from the App store has been modified from the original version submitted by the developer unless you jail brake your device so you can inspect the file system.
