What problem does this feature solve?

For consistency sake, rename $ref to ref in order to have the same naming convention as other macros have e.g. defineProps, defineEmits. They are not prefixed with ugly $ sign coming from jquery/php, 'Hungarian' notations or other $$$ rich code.

I know that $ref is experimental, just would like you to consider this once you decide to adopt an approach to reactivity transformation.

What does the proposed API look like?

Old way

let x = $ref(1)

New way

let x = ref(1)

This issue should be a comment on the still open RFC.

@LinusBorg could you provide a link to this open RFC?

https://github.com/vuejs/rfcs/pull/420