Whatever Apple is doing, it should be possible to buy a phone and not have it phone home without permission. And you should be able to use the phone without ever contacting the vendor again. Otherwise you bought a service, not a product.
Also, I recall a case where MacOS was asking Apple permission whenever the user wished to start an executable. This is nuts.
Also, I recall a case where MacOS was asking Apple permission whenever the user wished to start an executable. This is nuts.