Peak consumer-friendly Apple was in my opinion the iPod era Apple.
That started with the Rip-Mix-Burn ad, and contained the "Thoughts On Music" (let's abolish DRM, in 2007) open letter from Jobs to the music industry, it was the home computer being the hub of the digital life. iMovie and other suites of software were often updated with advanced features without sacrificing ease of use. The up-sell was the more expensive device, or another related device (e.g. Apple's Wi-Fi router Airport Extreme or Express), not yet another service.
That started with the Rip-Mix-Burn ad, and contained the "Thoughts On Music" (let's abolish DRM, in 2007) open letter from Jobs to the music industry, it was the home computer being the hub of the digital life. iMovie and other suites of software were often updated with advanced features without sacrificing ease of use. The up-sell was the more expensive device, or another related device (e.g. Apple's Wi-Fi router Airport Extreme or Express), not yet another service.