I don’t see it as being intentionally dumbed down, more that it never got those features in the first place.

iPadOS was born out of iOS. Why would iOS build support for F keys? F keys themselves are a hold over from quite a while ago. Apple tied to repurpose that space on the laptop with the old Intel MacBook Pros. When building a new OS, with a new software keyboard without F keys, why would they spend time developing around something that didn’t exist? When adding keyboard support, why would they add support for keys that don’t exist on the software keyboard?

I can see where that would be low on the priority list. I don’t think anyone at Apple had F keys working, then actively deleted the code to handle it while laughing maniacally.

I too, am heavily invested in my keyboard shortcuts. Goku + Karabiner gives me the luxury of toggling between apps and doing repetitive actions without moving my hands away from home row. I really want to switch but this missing feature is a dealbreaker for me.