Yes, but they can't do it with money that belongs to Apple, because the shareholders, i.e. the people that need to be bought out, already own that money.
Not true. A company can definitely take itself private by using its own money. It's already happening when a company is buying back its shares. i.e. reduction in equity by using cash, one on each side of the balance sheet. The shares are then entered on the books as treasury shares.