I would think that non-iOS software developers are still a big money maker for Apple. It seems like half of professional developers use Macbooks.

Even though I am a non-iOSdeveloper who likes using a macbook, I can see how it would make sense for Apple to push out a small group of power users if their requirements conflict with features that enhance the experience for the majority of their users, for example something like sandboxing the entire OS away from the user. This would (ostensibly) be good for security and would only be a dealbreaker for a small minority.

As long as iOS developers aren't impacted, I'm not sure what the incentive is for Apple to allow that kind of access.

They could make a Linux distro, a "yellow box" for Linux. I know it sounds totally ridiculous, but if Apple really doesn't want to make computers for software engineers, it doesn't stop them making an OS for software engineers.

:-)

Apple did just this, twenty years ago.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MkLinux

http://www.mklinux.org

Interestingly, they claim to have incorporated some of the technology from MkLinux into OSX, according to this page:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Da...

Make of that what you will.

...and they passed that point years ago, to boot.