Yes, and that's why ESP32 can be so cheap. They just run the WiFi stack on the same core, and they got very good know-how on the side of hardware<->RTOS interac

Yes, and that's why ESP32 can be so cheap. They just run the WiFi stack on the same core, and they got very good know-how on the side of hardware<->RTOS interaction how to make it viable (very hard.) Imho, non-wireless-intergrated MCUs will go extinct in IoT very soon. They also have the best mixed signal out of every other scrawny IoT startup who uses off-the-shelf IP.