I would say it was that there were structural reasons why they didn't want to expand to fit the new wider internet connected device category - not that they couldn't keep up.

They wanted to keep everyone on their proprietary platform instead of enabling their devices to be used on the wider internet / being a more open mobile platform.

As long as apple allows some AI integration, then I think they'll be fine- and in fact I trust their privacy and security model more than if I bought a Google device. (not to say I trust anyone's security model, but it's clear that Apple has a more vested interest in security and privacy than Google does)