Actual phones are going out of fashion quite quickly. People want communication devices with several usage options, that once in a full moon work as phones too.

And yes, people want entertainment too. Apple is just submitting to their customers desires.

It feels to me that customers submit to Apple's desires...

Maybe so, but non-Apple phones are designed against those same goals, and their market is pretty competitive.

If those came from Apple instead of consumers, they wouldn't be universal.