What to do, what to do??

I have been reading through so many threads and getting quite confused🤔

Quick story; currently using M2, 512GB, 8GB MBA. I've been using this one since it first came out in 6/23 and love it, I was a 40-year Intel diehard...... believe it or not my first portable was a 29LB Compaq (sewing machine size) 40 years ago 😮

In any case, I was always on the leading edge of Intel PCs and finally called it quits after 2, count them 2 HP X360 Envy's, both died within a week!!🤬

I got the wife on MacBooks about 10 years before because I hated being her "Tech Support" and let Apple do the work...lol

In any case as an iPhone/iPad user and with Microsoft OneDrive I was able to be up and running on an 8 YO MBA in less than a couple of hours..... and liked it.....crap!

In any case, I went to 15" MBA when it came out and never looked back, but lately, it seems like 8BG just isn't enough for the overhead of so many new programs and utilities with embedded AI, and the unit is slowing down a bunch from a couple of years ago. I know, I know, I can't tell you how many times I cleaned out the cache, optimized the drive, reduced clutter, yada, yada.

In any case, I will upgrade to at least 16 and probably 24GB of RAM. I mostly surf the web and use it for my real estate business (Contracts, MLS, and some back-end accounting software). No gaming, and like I said, was pleased with performance 2 years ago.

For my configuration, looking at 512GB, 24GB RAM is almost $300 more to the penny with AppleCare and tax for the MBP vs the MBA....... but the MBP has the M4 Pro chip. I am not sure if I will benefit from the increased spec of the MBP in my use case and the 14" vs 15" not a huge big deal for me but looking for advice for real world users..... sorry for the long post but getting confused reading all the different posts on same subject and would really appreciate some help...... PLEASE 🙏