They always rebrand features for marketing, you aren’t in a video chat you’re FaceTiming™. You aren’t talking with AI you’re talking with Apple Intelligence™.

That’s the secret to powering Linux mint.

Probably wipe the firmware of the machines so they can’t be used.

(Fun fact: FIRMware is the in-between of HARDware and SOFTware.)

Those should be closed systems and don’t need to network with other systems and should be safe enough, its when we start networking that it becomes incredibly risky which is what neuralink is intended to do. I don’t think the average person understands how many automated attacks are flooding interconnected computers as we speak and you’re dropping someone’s brain into that and we don’t understand the scope of what can be done intentionally or unintentionally, it’s not outside the realm of possibility an automated attack trying to rapidly port scan and compromise a neuralink could overwhelm and damage the device and cause brain damage or death.

Would they still want it if it became hackable and someone could do nefarious things to them which they no doubt will try?

Most internet usage is mobile and people use whatever’s preinstalled on their phone because it just works is my guess.