> Most customers do want it this way, but Apple still allows
I don't believe this is the case. Apple generally prefers to diminish the importance and risks of specific actions unless they have some monetary advantage. e.g. Apple is happy to warn you (multiple times) that an alternative marketplace is "dangerous" and yet iMessage iCloud Backups are just a click away with a friendly "so your messages are available everywhere".
Another example is Photos - Apple has no problem activating features that collect "anonymized" information from my pictures. Yes, there is an opt-out, but having all that on by default is not in the spirit of a privacy-minded operation.
And about the choice - someone already pointed out in other comments, there really is no way to replace iCloud with anything else for backups and app data sync. So the choice is not really a choice.
I don't believe this is the case. Apple generally prefers to diminish the importance and risks of specific actions unless they have some monetary advantage. e.g. Apple is happy to warn you (multiple times) that an alternative marketplace is "dangerous" and yet iMessage iCloud Backups are just a click away with a friendly "so your messages are available everywhere".
Another example is Photos - Apple has no problem activating features that collect "anonymized" information from my pictures. Yes, there is an opt-out, but having all that on by default is not in the spirit of a privacy-minded operation.
And about the choice - someone already pointed out in other comments, there really is no way to replace iCloud with anything else for backups and app data sync. So the choice is not really a choice.