To download apps on an iphone, you need an apple id. This is just something every apple user has accepted since its inception. I would also be surprised if the majority of macOS/OSX users didn't have an apple id/icloud account.

This is not a new concept. What's new is that microsoft is enforcing it. But making it less obvious on how to disable the requirement when you install the OS. Or in most cases require hacks to do so.