I find this statement to be very arguable. Let's just concentrate on desktops here. Sure, Apple used to have user-replaceable RAM and storage. But was it because they cared about upgradeability or because of other reasons? First of all, there were no SSDs or low-power RAM variants back then, so going proprietary wouldn't make much sense for Apple. Second, the state of computer technology was very different. RAM used to be very expensive and going from 1GB to 2GB was of course a very sizeable difference. Nowadays computers come with excessive amounts of RAM per default. Third, Apple never used fast GPUs in their laptops — they always opted for mid-tier graphics with sub 50Watt TDP. Not only that, but they also aggressively pushed towards low-power CPUs and integrated GPUs — a trend which we observe with Apple for almost ten years now! In fact, the 2016 15" MBP is the first MacBook ever — if I am not mistaken — to use a GPU that is marketed as professional (but of course, its still a mid-tier GPU).
Overall, I just don't see how Apple ever catered to the upgradeability and/or workstation crew. Their laptops were always less upgradeable than most of other contemporary laptops (where you often had even replaceable CPUs), usually offered less ports and were quick to remove legacy features and never included workstation-level performance or stability components. Apple always focused on mobility and battery, while balancing performance. Frankly, I don't see a single difference between Apple's laptop design ideology between now and four or even eight years ago. Its all continuation of the same logic.
