I second the Mac recommendation. I use Linux on my desktop, but use Mac for laptop, after 6 years of using MBP (I still use my mid-2015 15" MBP for mobile development and day to day work), I can vouch for their quality (but skip the 2017, 2018, butterfly keyboard + touchbar crap, our company have buttload of those broken). Their M1/M2 battery life is just out of this world.
If OP worry about spending big and having buyers remorse, I recommend MBP.
I have an x86 MacBook.
How well do the M-series MacBooks work if you want to run Windows or Linux in a VM?
I should have been a bit more specific: How well do the M-Series run an x86 guest OS?
I've heard not well too. But don't personally know anyone who has experience with this.
This thread, Windows 11 for Arm runs unbelievably fast, seems to say that Windows ARM (not x86) runs well and it emulates x86. One person says well, one person says garbage.
Back to OP's question - I have a two MacBooks and one HP Windows laptop. I much prefer the MacBook hardware, but am 50/50 on the virtue of the OSs. Windows having WSL2 is a big benefit. That said, I'd probably buy another MacBook as they do seem to last a long time, I'm writing this on a 2018 MacBook, and like the Apple integration.
aaulia
demesisx