I think you mean Apple's quality of execution has gone up and down.

There was no prelapsarian apple-of-perfection: they released amazing things and also released utter turds.

I've been pretty much exclusively Apple for 20 years (laptops) and phones (since they shipped them), and the watch (vs other fitness trackers I've used). In the aggregate they haven't sucked as much as the alternatives.

In other places (servers, wifi base stations, office software, music software) I've switched back and forth and currently don't think Apple is worth it. It doesn't have to be a religious issue.

Oh and the original iPod? It was amazing!