I am very much afraid you are right. I'd love to be plesantly surprised but I am not holding my breath on that one.

I'd personally prefer the dual-boot option in any case but Apple is not giving it to us, period. So if all we'll be getting is iPadOS apps with a slightly different UI it will just be another half-measure.

That's not what pro/creatives want from Apple. They want the macOS programs they know and love. So yeah, another disappointment incoming it seems.