Interesting fact: I just got a new ev (so a battery hooked up to a computer with wheels) - and it has buttons! It also has dials for sound and climate.
Now to be fair it also takes interacting with a touchscreen to turn on the heated seats, but I’d say it’s progress in the right direction.
I’d not say a flat circle.
Mark Twain has this wonderful quote - “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.”
Assuming the soc’s are compatible you can upgrade down the road (I’ve not looked). Otherwise - its going to depend on how much raw horsepower you need day to day (I’m also not convinced there is much change between modern Intel generations).
I can’t help you on the 2-in-1 side of things. But if your ok with the form factor of a standard laptop look into framework. I’ll not roll them out for my windows/linux endpoints at work (poor corporate warranty support) but I personally use one and love it.
Iconiq 5. I can honestly say I really enjoy it (and I’m not a car person).