If "most recent update" is any version of Big Sur, at the least, you should be able to remap caps lock (or control, option, command, or on an M1 Mac even the Fn key) to escape in the "Modifier Keys..." section of Keyboard System Preferences.
(I was going to say that I still have the Escape key on the Touch Bar for my work laptop, which is true, but then I remembered it's running Catalina...)
Yep, Big Sur update. Unfortunately I can't map to Caps Lock because I have a habit of hitting that key a lot and in most apps I use Escape does a lot of unpleasant things when you hit it accidentally. Another commenter mentioned using Control+[ which seems to work for me.
I'm running 11.4 on a MacBook Pro without a physical escape key, and the escape key remains present in the Touch Bar. I'm genuinely confused as to what the problem is.
(I was going to say that I still have the Escape key on the Touch Bar for my work laptop, which is true, but then I remembered it's running Catalina...)