Wow, you sure read a lot into "for many many people".
What would be the point of going ARM on the Mac if Apple was really down with your idiotic idea of replacing desktops and notebooks with the iPad Pro?
Wasn't my "idiotic idea". It was Tim cook's. If you have a beef with that idea, take that up with him. Meanwhile he's happily moving the iPad-as-primary-computer theme along, with the release of the iPad Pro's Magic Keyboard, and putting the Smart Connector on the entry level iPad. In fact, he's even allowed Logitech to licence that tech and create keyboard mouse combos for the entry level iPad as well as more expensive iPads at a lower price than Apple's Magic Keyboard.
OTOH, Tim is still happy to sell you a Mac in the interim, if that's what you want and won't buy an iPad Pro. And now he can make those Macs for cheaper, with Apple silicon. Make no mistake though. Just because they can thermally stuff a A14X in a MacBook Air doesn't mean they necessarily will. Apple is the king of bean counting at times, with iDevice RAM being a great example.
Sure, I'd be happy to see the MacBook/MacBook Air get A14X at its price point or lower, and stay/become fanless. And yes I agree it's technically feasible. I'm just not convinced they'll do it, for marketing reasons and cost. Furthermore, many, many people simply do not care. A14 in a MacBook/MacBook Air would make for a very nice experience for most general usage. A13 is already fast enough, and A14 will be faster. You probably don't want to be compiling your pro applications on one, but that is not who the MacBook Air is marketed towards.
This argument does not resonate with me. I mean if Tim would really think so, one would not need a Mac to develop for iOS. I do really like the form-factor of a tablet but i need a real desktop OS - i guess thats the reason i am mostly using my Surface Pro X when traveling.
It doesn't resonate fully with me either. I'm just saying that Apple isn't scared of replacing notebooks with iPads. They'll make money either way.
Note however, there are rumours that Xcode mobile is coming. I'm not sure I buy that either, but there ya go. But even if it does come, it might come in true Apple fashion, which is over the course of several years.
How is that different than Apple selling (non Pro) iPads for half the price of iPhones that have less performance (depending on when the iPad is introduced, if you are buying the n-1 iPhone versus the latest and greatest, etc)
? I'm not quite following. iPads with the equivalent chips usually come out a long time after the iPhones, and the entry level ones are usually a couple of generations behind. Remember, Apple's current iPad is A10, and Apple's current iPad Air is A12. Meanwhile, the iPhone is on A13.
Oh and general mainstream performance of A10 is actually quite decent. A10 is already faster than a LOT of Wintel laptops currently for sale.