Of course they had a choice: they could have stuck with google maps for longer, and they probably also could have invested more in data and UI beforehand. They could have launched a submarine non-apple-branded product to test the waters. They could likely have done other things we haven't thought of here, in this thread.

Quite plausibly they just didn't realize how rocky the start would be, or perhaps they valued that immediate strategic autonomy more in the short-term that we think, and willingly chose to take the hit to their reputation rather than wait.

Regardless, they had choices.

Sure, and now you can also say they had their hand forced by Google again, or by Anthropic, or by whatever other AI companies are out there.