The solution seems clear to me: you don't need to stop using laptops, you need to switch to another brand. There are plenty of laptops (or notebooks or whatever you prefer to call the things) with keyboards which work by manufacturers who put function over form instead of the other way around. The only snag you might hit is if you're stuck - emotionally or otherwise - to a given operating system but even that is solvable, albeit slightly hackish.
The essence of the thing is that Apple only looks at its bottom line so that bottom line is the only way you have to influence their behaviour. Don't like what they sell? Don't buy it, get something else.
The problem is the OS. Apple hasn't entirely screwed up macOS yet (give them time). It is still better than Windows and Linux in my opinion.
The hardware decline brings them closer to even with other laptops, all things considered, but I suspect many people prefer macOS enough to still stomach the bad hardware.
Plus the trackpad. Everyone's still playing catch-up on that. Mac laptops are the only ones I've ever used for which I don't halt all work immediately until I can find a mouse, if I'm doing something that'll take more than ~5min. This makes it the only line of laptops I know that are actually usable as self-contained devices (that is, for their intended purpose)
Don't you think you're going to far when you "halt all work immediately until [you] can find a mouse" when using anything but an Apple-branded device? That actually sounds like the human-interface-device equivalent of the audiophile attitude.
I mostly use Thinkpads which are known for having good keyboards. While I do prefer the keyboards on these machines over those on the others spread around the place I don't "halt all work until I find an IBM M1" when dealing with other machines, not even when dealing with those modern chiclet-inspired monstrosities. I might grumble a bit, miss a key here and there and wonder what the designers were thinking but those keyboards do get the job done. The same goes for touchpads, some are better than others but most of them work.
Glass touchpad with multi-touch is infinitely better than synaptics plastic trash with "somewhere on the right side we'll pretend there's a scroll bar".
Nearly all touchpads support multi-touch, this includes Synaptics "plastic trash". You just need to enable things like two-finger scroll and three-finger-click (etc). If you're using an older version of Windows you might need to update the driver, those who use Linux generally get this out of the "box" and can just enable the required options.
Having both two-finger-scroll and side-scroll enabled is possible and quite handy for those occasions you can't use or don't feel like using two fingers, e.g. when you're holding a hot soldering iron in one hand and a collection of parts in the other - just scroll using a knuckle.
How many hours have you logged on an Apple touchpad in the past 5 years or so?
What you say is technically correct, but you can enable all those things and Synaptics still is miles behind Apple in accuracy, comfort, additional possible gestures (I use "pinch" "four finger up" and "get outta here" gestures frequently).
Sometimes the Synaptics just doesn't recognize what I'm doing with simple two-finger scroll. That literally never happens with Apple hardware.
More than a thousand I'd guess, why do you ask? I use a 'magic touchpad' (first generation, a bit of a battery eater) with some stationary machines. The thing works, sure. It is rather big which - in my opinion - is not all positive. The clickpad-function can sometimes be handy but one annoying thing about it is the fact that it takes more force to click on the back side than the front, this due to the way they implemented this function. Touch gestures are not really my thing as I tend to use the keyboard for those things reached throgh gestures - maybe I need to add that I use a tiling window manager?
But the precision and comfort of tracking between the "plastic textured" pad v. the etched glass top that macs use is light years apart, even if it's possible to spend an hour and tweak the plastic one to have the same functions and behaviour.
I'm really sad because I really like Apple hardware. I would still get the newest line of MBP even if I hate the keys because it'll still be lightyears ahead in terms of hardware sturdiness and feel.
I bought a XPS 15" since I didn't want to dish out for a new Macbook. It's running Elementary OS. I like it well enough, but it has a lot of trouble handling HiDPI that requires constant tweaking.
The essence of the thing is that Apple only looks at its bottom line so that bottom line is the only way you have to influence their behaviour. Don't like what they sell? Don't buy it, get something else.