Exactly. Optimising care and attention to detail out of product design because it's too expensive is one of the reason technology today is absolute crap anywhere you look.
A decade ago I used to view Steve Jobs as an a designer that was a little too full of himself, today I see him as an extinct breed of people that had a vision and didn't compromise in the name of revenue and cutting corners.
Many engineers and managers nowadays think good, opinionated and well-crafted product are a waste of time and money. Shipping early is the only metric that matters, and the various Tim Cooks in charge are a sign of the times.
And it's not bad to appreciate a small thing.
So I think that sentiment is fine. It's not one of the last things the author liked, it's one of the last things they liked about their phone.
It's very minor, but minor nice things were all the phone had going for it...