I mean technically they could add HDR functionality and then call it “HDR”. They had everything for this. But they chose not to do that.
Any of Apple devices with HDR support has either miniLED or OLED panel. I think it's not a coincidence.
I was going to dispute this, but I see you are right, because Apple did it for the 2020 (macOS Catalina) iMac 5K, which supports HDR10 and also converts other HDR formats to HDR10. Earlier iMacs 5K cannot do that (even running Catalina), except for the iMac Pro. See here:
Play HDR video on Mac
I won’t belabor why this is, as I don’t know for sure, but suffice it to say it probably isn’t the AH-IPS panels themselves (from LG Display) that are the limiting factor.
This is underlined in the Studio Display, where Apple appears to have expressly decided not to provide HDR10 support, deeming macOS EDR a better option for handling HDR content.
Your Samsung could be another example proving your point, as most likely (we don’t know for sure, it’s also possible it is an updated PLS panel/backlight from Samsung Display) it uses the same panel as the Studio Display. Regardless, it supports HDR10, but (as you experienced first-hand) its limitations in contrast ratio and color gamut make it unsatisfactory, not to mention luminance.
That said, I think you are wrong to dismiss the VESA DisplayHDR 600 performance spec as a meaningful gauge of the HDR capabilities of these newer IPS Black panels from LG Display and the parallel panels from AUO Display+, both of which have vastly improved, HDR-friendly contrast ratios and color gamuts. They don’t have the high luminance of gaming panels, but they do have the high resolution of content-creation panels.
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