I’m a software engineer using heavy ides and docker , the macbook pro m2 14 inch takes everything i throw at it . I don’t see how you need the max specs for your use case . Choose some more storage and apple care , people go crazy about ram when just browsing youtube . Also use firefox or safari

Played Stardew on M2 with ps5 controller and it was great , from GOG application. Also tried NMS which was surprisingly nice but did get hot since there are no fans. So gaming is pretty light weight. I have the pro model now and the keyboard feels like the m2 which are both amazing keyboards battery life for air was 10hour ish , pro is more like 5hr since i keep the brightness so high . I felt some lag sometimes running multiple applications on the air , none with the pro and have yet to hear the fans kick in