I can assure you that APB consoles interface with and compliment high end processing and eq from other manufacturers quite nicely. (I am personally a BSS fan, but that's totally just me.) If APB chose to make processing such as discussed here, I am sure it would be exceptional. It is certainly not critical that they do so in order to get great results from the tools they do choose to make, ie, primarily, great analog consoles.
I don't really quite grasp your friend's train of thought.
All the best!