It's really surprising how people end up making absolutist claims about privacy while demonstrating very little understanding of the threat model posed by modern smartphones.
Would you mind expanding upon that?
The fact that you have a phone in and of itself is traceable, as cell phone towers maintain records of who, when, and where. At this point, usage of such records is so commonplace by LEO that not having your phone with you when you do something is considered suspicious in and of itself.
Advocating against Apple force-updating a phone that you haven't bought seems... silly in comparison? Especially as only with an up to date OS, you can be sort of safe against attackers, be it state level sponsored or regular ones.