That’s a lot of anger and words over something that, in the grand scheme of things, is so utterly unimportant and almost contemptuously irrelevant.
Things are always a trade-off. There are big positives to keeping the ecosystem on a consistent, new and secure version of iOS. Similar positives apply to MacOS.
The problem I have with your argument, is you assume that my frustration is just over a single device from Apple.
I have literally had every single apple product since the Apple ][e -- aside from their server systems.
I have had every iPhone (even had pre-launch phones from them) since launch up until I stopped at the 6s+ which is the only phone I will ever own from them.
I have a history with apple that is not shallow and I have had ~35 years of judgement against them.
I recall getting into a talk with a fellow engineer at Lockheed where I said "Trust me, Apple will switch to intel procs - and this apple boi almost had a heart attack saying that would NEVER happen...
Things are always a trade-off. There are big positives to keeping the ecosystem on a consistent, new and secure version of iOS. Similar positives apply to MacOS.