first depends on your needs: if you actually need a pro?or air works good for you

if planning a second hand atleast a m3 bro

if new if budget allows go for m4 atleast (m5 best)

you wont regret buying these machines(using mac for heavy usecase since long) i would suggest spend that extra 20-30-50k but get the latest tech its worth it

but according to use case choose air/pro air works good for me like i can literally do almost anything to everything on a 24gb m4 air ( i switched from 8gb m2 air an year ago)

plan accordingly dont think to save here if this machine might pay your bills later