A fairphone is more ethical than an iPhone, and pointing that out in good faith to someone complaining about Apple's behavior seems entirely fair.

True. However, a Fairphone isn't available to everyone. Every place that sells phones will offer you several kinds of iPhones with several payment plan options for those of us who don't have $1000 available immediately. Same with several brands of Android phones for those of us that aren't gullible enough to buy into the overpriced walled garden bullshit of Apple.

Fairphone, on the other hand, isn't available from your local provider, though. You have to buy them outright online. At least that's how it is here in Denmark.

Your example actually proves my point further: iPhones are universally available whether you can really afford one or not, whereas getting a Fairphone is much less straightforward in every way.

I'd love for my next phone to be a Fairphone but unless my financial situation changes significantly, that's not possible due to the universal favoring of less ethical brands.

It's not a complete fallacy to point out that someone is consuming something less ethical when they have a better option

Bolded the key words. The frequent lack of an ethical (or even less unethical) option is my point. The only way to ALWAYS have the ethical choice available you ironically have to be wealthier than is ethically achievable.

absolutely you can avoid Starbucks because of their treatment of unions, and frequent a local coffee shop instead.

Not always, no. Like Walmart with grocery stores, Starbucks have been forcing out competitors to the point that they have de facto monopolies on coffee shops in some areas. You can't choose a local shop if it doesn't exist.

Granted this is mostly assuming two people having a good faith discussion, which on the internet is infrequent lol.

True lol