No surprises here. Just like the lockdown on iPhone screen and part replacements, Macbooks suffer from the same Apple’s anti-repair and anti-consumer bullshit. Battery glued, ssd soldered in and can’t even swap parts with other official parts. 6000$ laptop and you don’t even own it.
The “people want to appear wealthy” thing makes no sense in 2023 when flagship android phones are the same price or more expensive. People, as much as the anti-apple people don’t want to admit it, buy iPhones because they’re damn good phones with the best app support, accessory support, best customer support, the best performance, etc.
People buy Macs because they last forever and, especially now with the M chips, they are best in market performance and battery wise.