Maybe this is exactly why people want the changes to the iPad. They want a more powerful iPad rather than a less powerful Mac.
No, what I see, is people that are always coming with excuses to not buy an iPad.
"Because it can only run one application at once" -> Apple implements that feature -> "it needs a real file manager" -> Apple implements that feature, and they will come up with more excuses of "why the iPad isn't a MacBook Air".
Never read any "Apple technorati", much alone "many", asking for one.
In fact, those three (Marques, Dave2D and The Verge) are profoundly anti-Apple.
Just because they show them using MacBooks and iMacs in the background, doesn't mean anything.
I own a Surface. Having a touchscreen is one of those things that, for some at least, becomes a must have. For me it helps it walk the line between productivity machine and Youtube-while-cooking-dinner tablet.
Original claim: "There's no touchpad Yet... with many of the Apple technorati asking for one and saying it's a necessary next step"
Have actual "apple technoratti" asked for a touchpad? I never read one do so.
Have they asked for touchscreens? Some did, some are against.
In any case, I don't exactly see the reasoning.
iPad is criticized because it doesn't have mouse support, and the Mac is criticized because it doesn't have touch support. As if a hybrid model wont have all the problems the Surface has -- (touch not that useful when using a keyboard, and mouse-based apps not that useful with touch) --and presumably the kind of lackluster sales the Surface has compared to the iPad.
Note that while he does propose one, he does it contrary to the spirit discussed here (of getting desktop OS X parity), even adding: "Even if users expect a mouse cursor when they first see the trackpad, they’ll adjust quickly when they realize it isn’t there. If they wanted a MacBook they’d be using a MacBook. By definition anyone using an iPad is not expecting it to act like a Mac."
Yet... with many of the Apple technorati asking for one and saying it's a necessary next step.
> in iOS every action is accounted for and proper permission is enforced
Yes, so this is the Mac with a more restrictive security model as referenced in the first comment. Apple is moving the macOS towards this with the Sandbox and how app extensions are structured.