Used Ubuntu for almost a decade now. Wouldn't call myself a tinkerer with respect to the OS, the defaults are totally fine. Drivers are rarely an issue ime. Maybe things have become better since last you tried?
I installed Ubuntu on my Acer laptop a few years ago. Fans didn't work after waking from sleep, so it'd overheat. Wifi was finicky. I didn't even try Bluetooth. Couldn't run Adobe Flash and thus couldn't watch the World Cup on the only legit website to watch in the US (Fox Sports).
Yeah, "not the OS's fault" etc. But Windows did all of that fine.
Windows did all of that fine because the manufacturer made the machine with the intent of running windows and shipped it with drivers for its particular hardware. A System76 machine would be the same with linux, apart from the flash thing, so you aren't really saying anything meaningful about any operating system.
I'm saying it's painful for the user, who doesn't care about these details.
But speaking of laptops made for Linux, a lot of modern Lenovo Thinkpads have unpatched issues with Bluetooth audio, and my coworkers are constantly fighting with that. So even us techies have an easier time with Macs.
Ubuntu / Linux definitely has come a long way. I used to compile kernels, write X11 config files, now it just works. Timed perfectly with my lack of time / willingness to tinker for hours to get stuff working.
I somehow found bluetooth and sounds in general to be the achilles heel of Ubuntu. Both installations I have/had in my family either sound stopped overnight or bluetooth didn't work anymore after an update.
Yeah, "not the OS's fault" etc. But Windows did all of that fine.