Exactly! Apple's #1 concern used to be user-experience. And, in the past, if you opted to buy the very bottom model of their product line-up, you still had a good experience. Sure, maybe you had to add some RAM, or change-out the storage not too far down the road, but that was a possibility, and not too expensive (in fact, I used to often recommend the entry model and 3rd party upgrades to save some money).
But, now that most of the product line can't be upgraded, it isn't the consumer's responsibility to go, "Hmm, I could buy this entry-level model, but then it's not going to work well, so I'll spend the extra $100 (or whatever) to get the model that really works." That's Apple's problem, because as you said, it's going to come back to bite them. And that bite is going to be far worse than the $100 (or whatever) they made in profits THIS quarter.
A wise business recognizes this. Unfortunately, most CEOs, whether they recognize it or not, are driving by spreadsheets or shareholder demands. Jobs wasn't. If Cook can't follow in Jobs' shoes in that regard, Apple is in for a problematic future.