Passkeys are actually quite nice, and solve a bunch of actual problems. The conspiracy theory is unhelpful, because companies and individuals don’t actually run to evil mastermind plans. The simpler explanation as to why they are, essentially, turning into yet another form of platform lock-in is: there’s no incentive not to.

I too am hesitant to “upgrade to passkey” on my iPhone, given how nontrivial it is to copy or transfer them off the Apple ecosystem. No conspiracy, just blunt corporatism.