Ofc they have the power to do so. John Deere did just that with stolen machines (incidentally underlining that you actually rent their machines) My point is that you buy the iphone hardware, and the use is not a service. And the possibility of bricking it at Apples, Samsung or Huawei whim is for me dystopian. Access to software, storefronts and internet pages is slightly different in my opinion.
How could it have been worse. A fucking basic appliance was hijacked. Ofc its not weaponized, that would have made it worse I guess