The GPs point was that this ban is a drop in the ocean (financially speaking) for Apple. So claims of irreparable harm is a little over the top. Which is correct from a financial / social perspective.
You are claiming that from a legal stand point Apple are correct. Which is also true.
My point is that both arguments are correct. One doesn't contradict the other.
You touched a little on this when you said there's no room to play nicely in court. And I agree with that. That's exactly why statements like that are used in legal claims. But what you're failing to empathise with is why they're used. It's because it is "technically correct" to the extreme edge of reality. And that's why the GP scoffed.
Or to put it another way: the alternative would be Apple saying "yeah we were a little underhanded and this ban wouldn't affect the health of the company, but we'd like to appeal the ban regardless". That would also be technically correct but you're not going to win any legal arguments that way. So of course Apple are going to write the most dramatised version of facts that favour themselves.
The problem with being technically correct is that there are a multitude of ways one can say the same technically correct thing yet convey a completely different story.
So yes, you are right. But I can also totally see why some might scoff at the Apples statement when taken verbatim. Frankly, it is a bit of an absurd statement. If it were made in any other circumstance outside of a legal appeal, it would be a pretty absurd claim to make. Literally the only reason one can defend that comment is because it's a legal statement.
And hence why both parties in this thread are correct.