Yes, on MacOS you can use whatever browser you like, engine and all, while being unmolested for favoring something not-Safari. That’s why, after a lifetime of being a Windows user, my most recent PC purchase was a MacBook Air. I would prefer to use Linux, but where I’m at in my life, I just want something that works relatively well out of the box, and I use some software that won’t run on Linux.
Yeah, they do ask you to stay, but compared to what MS does, it’s nothing. They could be better, of course, but they aren’t in the same league with MS/Edge nags and abuse.
