Your argument is basically that
a) because of Apple's legal right (you seem to assume that ethical right is implicit in the legal right) to shape price(s) as the company sees fit:
b) the consumer is obliged to shut the hell up and bear it.

Sorry, this is not the case. Market is a democracy and the consumer is not obliged to do anything. True enough, in our Lawyer Age when purchasing the device means agreeing to EULA stating pretty much that the purchaser has absolutely no rights to anything and that the purchased device does not even belong to him whilst the manufacturer has no obligations whatsoever Apple could do pretty much anything. Yeah, they can milk the early adopters for all their money and then show them the middle finger. But such behaviour has consequences. Because the consumers will not bear it, suck it up and so on. They are not paid for it, quite the opposite - it's them who have the money Apple wants. And they can turn away from a brand that treats its consumers this way. So no, the consumer has no obligation to shut the frig up. He does not have any obligation whatsoever - he can complain, whinge and whine. And vote with his wallet.