Mike, the 2012 Nexus 7 did get transparent bars, despite its hardware being inferior to the hardware in the Nexus 10, proving the performance issues a myth. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has the same resolution and TouchWiz and it has no issue with transparent notification bars. What gets me is that apps have to resize during load to accommodate the bars on the 10 and makes the experience less immersive and takes up screen real estate.
The Nexus 7 did not, as of 4.4.4 have ART or the GEL so with exception to one feature it was as badly loved as the Nexus 10. One would expect buying a Nexus would equate to having the Updates and all features of those updates. If Google wants to eliminate fragmentation they need to start by not fragmenting features on their entire line. Making certain features exclusive to the newest device in the line, stinks of Apple to me.