I think you have wrong idea about my gearing: I did not extend the top end at all. I have a 42-tooth chain ring and a 10-36 cassette. My top gear is equivalent to 50:12 or 46:11, and my easiest gear has a slightly lower ratio than 34:28. When I go fast on (false) flats at about 50 km/h, I am typically in 50:13 or 42:12. I prefer a faster cadence at those speeds. I typically only use my top gears when going downhill. That leaves the 42:11 and 50:12 as the odd gears out.
I obsessed a lot about gear ratios when I went 1x.
No, there are differences, have a look. One essential difference is that Shimano’s equivalent gearing combo has one less cog at the top end which is 1 tooth apart from its neighbors as well as a larger overlap between the usable gears in big and small chain ring (since big and small ring on SRAM’s 12-speed groupsets only are 13 teeth apart rather than 16 on Shimano).
I think gearing is where SRAM has Shimano absolutely beat, it’s not even close: you have a lot more options. You can go 1x or 2x, both are fully supported on drop bar bikes. I like that SRAM lets riders choose rather than force that decision upon them like Shimano does. And then there is a whole host of cassettes, starting from 10-26 (which is probably super niche), 10-28, 10-30, 10-33 and 10-36. All of these cassettes are supported on 1x and 2x. A 2x setup with 10-36 gives you almost 500 % range, way, way bigger than anything Shimano can (even with a mullet setup since their Di2 mountain bike groupsets are still all 11-speed). On 1x, you can use all the aforementioned cassettes in addition to a 10-44 with a road-style RD or 10-50 or 10-52 with a mountain bike rear derailleur.
The 10-tooth cog is essential for keeping the size of the cassette down. For example, you’d need a 11-48 cassette to mimic a 10-44 cassette. Or an 11-40 cassette instead of a 10-36.
I think Shimano’s direction with gearing, which is closely tied to the pro peloton, is really making their products less good for non-professional riders, i. e. pretty much all of their customers.