Until Apple adopts RCS, they need to STFU about valuing their users' privacy. This is a gaping,
intentional hole in the privacy/security they provide to their users. They need to be more honest and say that they take your privacy seriously on the condition that you are messaging with another one of their customers, and not the 80% of global smartphone users who use Android.
I bought an iPhone 13 Mini in January of this year. It was my first iPhone in 6-7 years. I used it for about four months before going back to my old Pixel 4. I actively used iMessage the entire time I had the iPhone, including syncing messages with my MacBook, and I just don't understand the hype. It's obviously better than SMS, but really inferior to most modern messaging platforms. I definitely didn't find it compelling enough to be a lock-in mechanism for the platform.
RCS is only encrypted if you're using google messenger app. And BOTH parties have to be using it. And zero group chats are encrypted. There's probably other shit too.
You don't think these things could be improved if Apple decided to implement it? Hell, let them take credit for joining the party and improving the security standards. Them throwing their weight behind these new standards helps improve and validate them. Look at how much more ubiquitous contactless payments became in the US after Apple decided to implement NFC payments a few years after Android added it.
The vast, and I mean VAST, majority of people in the US have iPhones and use iMessage exclusively.
This is absolutely not true. They have a fairly slim majority in the US (like 55/45 the last time I checked).