Gen.3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman "Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
Rev.20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
The serpent is Satan, the Devil and he beguiled Adam and Eve - there was no apple! He wasn't a real snake, he wasn't just temptation, he wasn't just a tree. He was here at the beginning and he will be at the end.
The idea of the satan (devil) as seen in Christian theology did not exist in Judaism when Genesis was written. In Judaism, satan is an obedient angel of God. The serpent is allegory for temptation.
The tree and its beautiful fruit is the temptation, and Eve's "conversation" with the Serpent is her inner self rationalizing that the fruit is really good and meet to eat, convincing herself that there is no reason why she shouldn't have it. We do this every day, against our better judgment.
[the serpent] was here at the beginning and he will be at the end
Yes, we will be tempted by things we shouldn't have all along. That's the nature of the physical world.