> If it’s encrypted they (presumably) can’t access that data at all.
We just have to trust their implementation, which is conveniently proprietary and unaccountable.
> And that assumes that apple will corruptly open it for someone else which they have zero interest in
Are you sure about that? They very publicly gave the Chinese government control over Chinese iCloud data a few years ago. That, and they've been part of PRISM for the better half of a decade now. When a company has a working relationship with multiple sovereign governments, I'm not sure you can strongman the "Apple will save us" argument.
This is also a problem with Google, Microsoft, Amazon, 95% of cell carriers, most cable companies and your laptop manufacturer (regardless of company). Apple knows you feel insecure about this, so they market their products/services to you with this in mind. News flash: does anyone really think the largest company in America (let alone the world) isn't in kahoots with the American government? Microsoft was. Google was. IBM was. And Apple is bigger than them all.
Encryption is great. Mixing it with snake oil isn't. People are correct to call out Apple's failures to protect their users in this conversation, because their track record isn't very benevolent.