They’re moving the focus of AP from azerite gear to the necklase. For characters who have already reached a high rank, its true that all future azerite gear will have all rings unlocked. The fact that the pre 8.2 mechanics/tiers are being allowed to fade in obseolence rather than being torn out was not made explicitly clear.
Those sorts of details are the danger of setting expectations based on interviews rather than waiting to see the actual implementation.