Who else is affected by this bug. And by who else, I don't mean this one guy's customers / users. If the answer is no one else, or if no one else has reported it, then it's probably so far down the list as to be inconsequential. Which probably means the new guy on work experience gets to deal with it.
Not all bugs are fixed. There's only so many hours in the day, and some bugs are simply not worth fixing.
It's true that Apple might decide the bug isn't worth fixing, but then they should say that explicitly, so that devs don't have to file the bug a zillion times and wonder where it is on Apple's priority list. The issue here is really the lack of transparency. Bug reports shouldn't go into a black hole.
It's also not clear to me why you think no one else is affected by this bug. How many duplicates from other reporters have been closed? We have no way to know. Presumably others, though-- not every instance of an issue results in a front-page HN article.
Not all bugs are fixed. There's only so many hours in the day, and some bugs are simply not worth fixing.