Apple would only buy Lyft if they could control the brand experience to a level that just isn't possible at scale with humans as the primary service delivery (cough) vehicle.

Consider the Apple retail experience. Retail is relatively easy to train for, there's a big labor pool to pick from, and with Apple's revenue/sq.ft. they can afford to compete for good staff.

Now consider the sum of your Uber/Lyft experiences and the scale of the problem. Is it reasonable to expect an Apple retail level experience in the ride app space? Even with a tolerable up-charge?

Retail experiences have always varied with some brands able to offer consistently stellar experiences. Tiffany comes to mind. In all my adult years hailing a car has always been a total shit show except at the most extreme price points. I won't speculate as to why, I'm just saying, the quality problem of mass small auto ride hailing has yet to be fixed by anyone.