“I think that was Apple's point — the purpose of the way they've complied was to induce maximum pain while staying as close within the regulations as they can, because frankly they've got a monopoly on their users' time and dollars and they don't want to let that go.”

Apple's malicious compliance — maximum pain inside the rules

Jacob diagnoses Apple's DMA response as a deliberately punishing implementation designed to discourage developers from switching, while technically complying with the letter of the regulation. This is the start of a negotiation, not the end — expect more rounds.