For me it's actually about game development, so I'm running things like Unity and baking light maps and things like that, which I absolutely do on the go in coffee shops or whatnot. The battery life is actually pretty decent. Nowhere close to a macbook but I don't have to be plugged in all the time either.

I'm not sure I'd call it niche. No I'm not playing counterstrike in a coffee shop, but it can be fun to bring it over to a friends house. I haven't bought a desktop since 2014, I like having the freedom to work from anywhere and not have to move files between computers all the time. When I have it at home I have it hooked into 3 monitors and a full size keyboard, and it runs pretty quiet, so it's not really any different from having a desktop in that regard.

YMMV though. Most of what I do with a computer even besides games needs a very powerful GPU. If you're working with docker and webdev I'd just get a macbook. My only point is that apple doesn't have a pure monopoly on performance, as impressive as their new silicon is there's some things it's still not so good at.

If you need a laptop w/ a strong GPU for desktop applications the Apple product line isn't your best choice.

For mobile computing + gaming I replaced my discreet gpu Macbook Pro with an M2 Air + SteamDeck and I'm enjoying everything a lot more.

I'm in a similar boat, the other thing the gaming laptop lets you do is demo your gamedev work at meetups and similar.

Just depends what you care about. All the games I care about, from Baldur’s Gate to Crusader Kings to emulated games, are best enjoyed in my bed or couch on my laptop. My desktop feels more niche for my preferences since only a few games I care about require sitting at a desk in “FPS position”. I had more fun building the thing than using it.

A ton of folks use laptops for gaming and move them from place to place, plugging in at each.