I tried a bit of the opposite: replacing the computer with a tablet that can run those apps directly.
I eventually found tablets too limited in what I can do with them (like an iPad in my case).
A weird non-solution could be something like keeping your smartphone, but use the mirroring function on your laptop (Apple just announced this on Mac OS to mirror an iPhone).
This makes me think: while developing on Mac OS for the iPhone, one can run an emulator to check the app. Could that emulator be used with a shipped app? (Assuming you can even get the app itself from the store). I have no experience in that area.
I eventually found tablets too limited in what I can do with them (like an iPad in my case).
A weird non-solution could be something like keeping your smartphone, but use the mirroring function on your laptop (Apple just announced this on Mac OS to mirror an iPhone).
This makes me think: while developing on Mac OS for the iPhone, one can run an emulator to check the app. Could that emulator be used with a shipped app? (Assuming you can even get the app itself from the store). I have no experience in that area.