Like many, I’ve tried and failed to use an iPad like I use a Mac. The promise of iOS has not lived up to expectations, not even with the introduction of trackpad support and Stage Manager.
The reality is Apple likes the iPad and it’s OS just where it is: a simpler computing platform at a lower cost point. Afterall an iPad is a single display, single port device, where keyboards and other peripherals are supported at a healthy margin. This is the perfect onboarding device for non-nerds to extend the capabilities of their iPhone onto a larger format, without the burden of a full PC laptop/desktop.
Put it another way, if you graphed both Mac and iPad on the same chart of price (x) and capability (y), then there would be 2 overlapping circles but with minimum overlap. These are distinct products, the Mac for complex tasks and iPad for simpler tasks. As much as overlap continues to grow this will always be compromised by the low precision of a touch-first interface, even with a trackpad icon and Stage Manager.