Thicker irons are a huge issue because sharpening them is a major issue when you would rather be using them. The newer alloys complicate things even more and really add to sharpening difficulty. Yes they are almost sharp for a long time, depending on the wood you are using. Yes all of this is affected by the wood you are working.
The good news is we have options:
Old steel: easy sharpen, very sharp, frequent honing.
A2 etc: thick steel, sharp for longer, very lengthy sharpening.
01 HSS: thick steel, very sharp.
The killer comes when that secondary bevel shortcut becomes the main bevel and you really have to restore the main bevel. The machine free shop cries out for a water cooled wheel so you can actually get back to working wood. Thinner blades are much easier.
I am going to try the thicker 'modern' blade in 01 HSS. The Japanese blades with their thick laminated construction and thin hard layer seem to have it right but western plane blades are not made that way....yet! The tapping out of Japanese blades is an added complication.