>> I know it’s likely the page works in Safari since iOS+Safari is a large customer group
That until you find out some of the best web technologies are not working on safari(i.e indexeddb has been left unfixed for years on purpose by apple).
I don't think people would like a safari only on desktop. Why would they want that on mobile?
Part of why I like Apple products is because they tend to have more apps made natively and well fitting into the ecosystem. I don't want web apps which use double the energy, don't look and feel like they were designed for iPhone/Mac. And I use Safari because it does everything it has to (display information) while using the least energy for it. I've yet to see any really good web app, no matter the browser or device.
I don’t really care about modern web tech I’m happy so long as web pages I visit work and lay out properly. (I don’t do web dev so I don’t need to professionally worry about the IE6-issues of having a large but slow moving target)
Then you shouldn't have an opinion on modern web tech. Stick to what you care of.
>> I don’t do web dev so I don’t need to professionally worry about the IE6
Mobile safari is the IE6 of the modern web but as you don't do web dev you don't need to worry about it. Let the people who build for the web worry about the web.
>> I’m happy so long as web pages I visit work and lay out properly.
Simple text Webpages were workig on IE6 too so I can only assume that the transition from IE6 to Safari mobile was a smooth for you.
That until you find out some of the best web technologies are not working on safari(i.e indexeddb has been left unfixed for years on purpose by apple). I don't think people would like a safari only on desktop. Why would they want that on mobile?