I don't think Apple could "win" with any type of card anyway, they're simply in the wrong segment. Better integrated with Apple? What could they possibly do that would actually be meaningful that doesn't already exist? Aside from making it easier/cheaper to use points to buy Apple products directly from the store which really isn't all that exciting to 99.99% of anyone anyway. Short of something like free AppleCare when used to by Apple directly from the store (highly unlikely) or perhaps a bigger default iCloud storage (Still pretty unlikely) I can't see much that would be especially appealing to any but the most die-hard fans...
A 2% cashback card is actually decent and this would appeal to that particular niche. Any bonus via Apple would just be icing. It would be a reasonably competitive cash back card for the people who prefer cash-back cards. I'm a pretty big Apple product consumer, but I doubt even I would get this card unless Apple somehow innovates this space.... which is unlikely. This is probably not high on Tim Cook's radar. Sachs probably approached Apple with favorable terms and Apple is just flowing with it.