I would feel physical pain if apple locked in tech like this. So dumb and annoying that we have to cripple so many potential applications just so apple can exclusively put it in a couple high-end laptops.
The market for that is minuscule, and they likely can't make a solution that works universally for every laptop.
Why? They should be able to acquire purchase agreements and startup investment on the strength of the product.
My brother in christ, have you heard of the patent system in general?
Try starting a new phone or laptop company. Your step 1 will be to acquire a patent war chest, so if someone sues you for patent infringement (and they will), you can sue them right back for the same.
In this world, if that company is for sale, someone much bigger is going to buy it, and make their technology their own exclusive. Be it Apple or Samsung or whatever. Getting hands on this tech _so your competitors don’t_ would also be a valid reason for acqusition.