And as a single anecdotal data point, I steadfastly resisted iOS, waiting for years for Android to solve their audio latency issues. I finally gave up. Maybe today, you can run music apps such as soft synths, DAWs, drum machines, etc. on Android. Back when I made the switch, the unbounded variable latency made it impossible on Android, no matter the manufacturer.
For all I know, you still can't, at least with the stock OS. It simply wasn't designed with realtime in mind. I think there was some experimental kernel that supposedly took care of that, but I never checked it out.
However, I use my phone mostly for... uh, calls and some texts. And I much prefer hardware than obeys to me first, and to its maker second. With Apple it always feels like it's the other way around.
Agreed, you never use plugins to record, only to mix. If you record with them, you can't undo it. Plug-ins are purely for the mix / post-production.
And if the pre-amp/ mics are good, a laptop is perfectly fine for tracking excellent audio, I would not think twice - the data rate is minimal. The room is far more important than the computer it's tracked on. As for 96K? Why bother? It makes it way more cumbersome (at least 4 times the file size), but IMHO is pointless since no one can hear the difference. Except maybe dogs.
One exception about plugins: a zero-latency reverb if the singer needs it to feel comfortable and you're going 100% ITB.
I have some mistrust for laptops, but maybe it's just me. 50 simultaneous tracks at 96k... it just doesn't feel right.
And I agree, the room is the
first issue. Take care of that, and only then think about boutique mics, preamps or converters.