Even on Google-flavored Android devices, you don't have to use the Play Store if you don't want to. You don't have to use Google Maps if you don't want to. You don't have to send your location to Google if you don't want to. iOS is strictly worse than all the other alternatives I know of.

I'd rather use Apple with their leaking than Google with their leaking, slowing down systems, and very high risk of malware infections.

The risk of malware is far higher on iOS than on a Google Android device, with Xcodeghost alone infecting more users than all others combined, and oft-exploited system apps like iMessage and Safari requiring a reboot to update. I don't know what you mean by leaks and slowing down (maybe https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936268845/apple-agrees-to-pay...), but my point was exactly that this doesn't matter on most Android devices, including Google-flavored ones, because (unlike with iOS) you don't have to use Google's app store or maps or SMS app.

Why use something that leaks anything by default? What a twisted thinking.

It depends on what is "better" for you. I'm happy with my Pinephone and waiting for my preordered Librem 5.