Two things I couldn't find mentioning in the article are virtue signalling and social media engagement. Why would "Apple's biggest fans" return it otherwise, even if they don't use it? If will be a flop, it will worth a lot of money in a few years. If will be a success, it will worth a lot of money in a few years. In any case, you want it in your collection, if you can put your hand on one...
I guess the value also depends on the remaining usability of the device. I must admit, for the past 2-or-so decades you are quite right: old iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs have been killed by Apple: they can't do a fraction of what they used to be capable of in their heyday. And their price indeed mirrors this.
Macs fared a bit better.
Let me extend my statement a bit then: if Apple doesn't press the self-obsolete-now button, then it will be a great relic.
