> These weren’t just inconveniences; they fundamentally shaped the architecture, capping performance more than any internal logic constraints.

This sentence sealed the deal for me but I was already suspicious for the preceeding sections.

I already see single-chip battery chargers (admittedly a lot simpler) that do both the charging logic (constant current until setpoint, then constant voltage until current drops below configured threshold).

A lot of stuff could be consolidated into single chips, making PCBs smaller and simplyfing designs.

Still clearly effortful work, though. I don't want to disparage it.