Yeah, that’s true. Pretty much every messenger has that issue, Signal, Telegram, etc. Ideally there would be an open standard like email, SMS and you could choose your preferred app and have cross messaging and group chats.

RIM made a similar play when they kept BBM closed to their phones and it backfired but Apple seem to have the opposite effect from keeping it all in house.

I think they are maybe referring to Apple’s reluctance to integrate with RCS.

Add an anti-static wrist strap on to your shopping list (a lot of electronic repair kits include them anyway but just in case).