I went iPad-only several years ago, sold my MacBook like the author. I have experienced the same friction, the same disappointment with external monitor support

I went iPad-only several years ago, sold my MacBook like the author. I have experienced the same friction, the same disappointment with external monitor support, the weird problems with keyboard focus, the killing of backgrounded apps. But I have not seriously considered going back to a Mac. I use my iPad with Apple keyboard cover for programming and system admin. Most of the time I have either Blink Shell (ssh/mosh terminal) or Safari open. I travel continually so the size, weight, battery life, face ID, and “always on” nature of the iPad appeal to me. I don’t have a regular desk setup or a big monitor. Over time I have adapted to using the touch screen more and the trackpad less, combined with keyboard shortcuts. I sometimes think about switching to a ThinkPad running Linux, which would let me work more at the command line. Since I do everything on remote servers over SSH anyway I don’t really need local Linux.