[user_7832]

> If the tablet form factor was really a game changer for software development, wouldn’t the surface line and high end android tablets be more popular for programming?

Not necessarily. The surface line has several hardware fumbles (especially regarding power budgets/efficiency). The A & M series chips could easily whip up most of their competition in the low power (>10 watt) segment, if Apple wanted. AMD and Intel push for high performance at 15-28watts on portables, which is too high for thin tablets.

For maximum contrast: x86 tablets have fans. M1/m2 laptops can be fanless.

(This isn’t to say it’s impossible but rather no company with deep enough pockets cares enough.)

[wilsonnb3]

I don’t think I’ve heard people complain about the surface performance, power usage, or battery life in a long time. Probably not since the surface pro 3, around the time that intel was making haswell.

Also the Surface Pro 7 was fanless with x86 processors, plus the small one (surface go, I think) is fanless and x86 but does have performance issues.