I've been grieving them since 2007 and had a big internal party last year when they unvailed the 24" iMac. For me, white is just iconic "Apple". The black bezels always are kinda "in your face", sticking out like a sore thumb. I find them incredibly distracting.
Even after all these years, I still really really do not like the black bezels*. I merely tolerate them. (*on macs, I don't mind them as much on iPhones and iPads, though I do miss my white-bezeled iPad mini a bit)
Close enough

Definitely counts.
That's only an issue when working in dark-mode. I actually find the dark notch very ugly on a mac when working in light mode with a light-colored menu bar. Hence, you can't really win there as there are people who prefer dark mode (for whom the dark bezels work better) and there are people who prefer light mode (for whom white bezels might work better), and then there are people like me who switch between light mode and dark mode by the time of the day.
So, yeah, that definitely does apply to white bezels on iPhones and iPads and I agree, it just stopped working.
Nope. Love them. Still iconic. Granted, they do get dirtier faster. But they just look so much better. Not like every other (PC) keyboard out there. And one of my biggest WTFs for years has been Apple moving to black bezels on the iMac but keeping the accessories white. Black keyboards on the Macbooks with black bazels matches; but hell yeah move back to white keyboards if moving away from the black bezels in an updated Macbook Air; like with the new 24" iMac.