> But if my employer gave me a choice in the matter, I'd pick a macOS machine

Provided the convenience is the same. If one is used to certain way of working with linux (may be scripts, desktop environment, or workflow - Keyboard shortcuts etc. ) then just picking a machine for "fancier option" is worthless or even annoying. Also wait to migrate scripts from bash to zsh. Again not all macs allow for baremetal install of Debian.