I don't understand "gorgeous hardware". I like a thinner laptop, but I don't see it as anything but a tool. I guess I just don't sit around and admire the hardware; I want to get the job done.
I don't see moving to Windows being associated with masochism either, as not a single OS can do it all.
Re admiring the hardware:
I rarely spend less than 10 hours a day looking at a screen. It gets a lot less straining to look at a very good screen than looking at a bad one.
I take better care of hardware that looks great meaning it lives for a longer time, lowering the TCO.
I prefer working with hardware that feels solid and well-built.
All in all, I'd argue I get a better job done in less time on good hardware. Now Apple is not the only supplier of good hardware, but when it comes to laptops, Apple's machines have long been setting the standard most other manufacturers have been striving to reach with their high-end models.
Re "not a single OS can do it all":
No, but a single OS can push most of the right buttons for you personally.
I much prefer the Unix way of doing things to the Windows philosophy in most cases, and macOS is, for the most part, "Unix done right". When my work requires me to do Windows stuff I run VMs (or connect to Windows servers) from my Mac.
[doublepost=1490349370][/doublepost]To answer the OP:
I've rebuilt my gaming environment in Linux three times since last summer for various reasons.(*) I've had to reinstall the nVidia graphics driver from the console like some savage at least three times after getting a new kernel update in the same period of time. This is for an environment whose main reason for existence is to serve as a means of relaxation for me. Would I prefer the "it just works" I'm used to from my work computer? You bet.
But for exactly this reason I would be wary of running macOS on non-standard hardware: I'm old enough to swear at tools that don't do what they're supposed to, and I have a large enough income that I can usually purchase proper tools when I need them.
So what I would really like, is a semi-powerful Mac, built by Apple, with a single but good desktop graphics card fit for three to five years of "a little more than casual" gaming; initially with rather high graphics settings at a good resolution. If the graphics card was user replaceable that would be a huge added bonus; that would mean a realistic seven-year lifetime for such a machine if you didn't skimp on the hardware when buying it.
*) Main reason being I'm not good enough with desktop type Linux distributions and software to properly troubleshoot them. It's faster to do a reinstall (or restore a backup) and return to somewhat sane defaults than understanding why Steam suddenly starts as a process but refuses to show a window and fixing the problem, for example.
