If instructions/extensions are being made that improve laptop-class performance in some ways, then that likely does increase the chance of Apple making laptop-class Arm cores for their Macs, even if by a miniscule amount.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers

I certainly assume they weren't paying large amounts for a license when relatively poor in the 90s despite holding one.

I don’t think Apple uses straight ARM chips for anything of consequence anymore (I imagine little low-power embedded ones still exist).

And nobody wants a stripped-down, locked-down version of MacOS-Lite.

So, no.

I wouldn't be amazed if they supported big-endian PPC still for the sake of maintaining portability, though I feel that's less likely than little-endian ARM.

Porting AppKit to ARM is easy. It's another thing entirely to commit to supporting parallel versions of AppKit for the next 8+ years.

It would be a colossal waste of Apple's software engineering resources, which many people believe are already stretched too thin. And for what, a little better battery life? It's just not realistic.

Having entire vertical control, with the flexibility and profitability that entails. Apple is paying hundreds to thousands per processor to Intel, and worse (for Apple) they are beholden to Intel for their product map. This is the antithesis of what Apple is about.

Imagine if Dell didn't have a competitive workstation/pro laptop in the lineup for five years.

I'm not sure what you mean by "political reasons" but it does still make billions from Macs, and the Macs contribute in indirect ways to the phones and the overall brand. Maybe that's what you mean.

Either support a product fully or end it, one of Jobs’ most important lessons.

That's what everyone was saying before the iPad launch and look how that turned out. Personally, I would hate an iPadBook, but I can see it selling really well. Especially among students.

I've had both a Chromebook and most recently and Android tablet with a magnetically attached keyboard, and it's great as a "I don't quite feel like bringing my proper laptop" device crossing over to a tablet, and it fits in my coat pockets.

It's a bit on the heavy side, but have pretty much supplanted my Android tablet. The Chromebook had a similar position, but then I still ended up bringing my (smaller) tablet with me.

For me at least it will never supplant a "proper" laptop because I want a full size keyboard and a much bigger screen, but it's a great complement for travels and meetings etc. or just to bring along in case of emergency.

And nobody wants a stripped-down, locked-down version of MacOS-Lite

Yet in iOS that is exactly what Apple sells the most.

There's nothing inherent in an ARM transition that would lead to such a thing, and there's nothing in the current x86 architecture that's preventing it.

Plenty of people use iPads instead of laptops, no?

I guess you missed the fact that Apple has endless billions to spend and can buy or hire to achieve anything they want.