Apparently the RPi 5's SoC already supports USB-C display alt-mode.. unfortunately they don't to proper PD negotiation, which would not be considerably more expensive. There are cheap vape pens that support PD negotiation properly.

Are you sure these "cheap vape pens" don't just use 5V3A, which doesn't require any PD negotiation at all? (a lot of them screw even that much up, and a lot of people confuse "PD negotiation" with simply having the right resistors on the CC pins)

There is real cost savings here -- the RPi5 avoided the need for a buck circuit, and for that matter probably a dedicated PD controller chip.

In contrast, in the context of a "cheap vape pen" you have a battery which means you need to be able to convert to (and from!) battery voltage, so you need that conversion circuitry anyway.