MacBook Air vs. a Linux laptop — for mobile dev and a future IT career?

I do my fair share of vibe coding, but the machine I'm on right now runs a weird version of Linux that blocks a lot of stuff outside of coding. Time for a proper laptop.

Three things I'm stuck on:

iOS testing — I don't own an iPhone anymore, so testing on iOS is rough. Are there decent ways to test iOS builds without buying back into the Apple ecosystem?

The machines — It's between a MacBook Air and an Asus Zenbook (I'd probably wipe the Zenbook and put a proper Linux distro on it). Is a Mac worth the premium, or is a cheaper Linux laptop more than enough?

Career — I'm also planning a switch into IT in the near future. Does one of these make more sense for that?

Any input appreciated.