Yes, you do need it. And btw the most prominent problem with emacs is its default keybindings. These are not suited for modern keyboards. The first thing you should do when you start customizing emacs is to rebind the keys. After that, everything would be way easier. There are a lot of key binding packages out there, just look for something that suits your needs or your habits.
I can’t agree more with the point that Apple is waging a constant war against its users, especially developers. Developing anything for the platform is practically impossible without owning their devices and operating systems. And moreover, their licensing policy. Ugh… I can’t remember any other software company which treats developers so badly today.