M5 (32 GB RAM) vs M5 Pro (24 GB RAM) for an AI Engineer — RAM or Chip Priority?

Hi everyone,

I'm buying my first MacBook Pro and I'm a bit confused between two configurations with almost the same price:

• MacBook Pro with M5 + 32 GB RAM • MacBook Pro with M5 Pro + 24 GB RAM

A bit about my workflow:

• I'm an AI engineer working on GenAI projects
• I usually run multiple Jupyter notebooks simultaneously
• I work with vector databases, embedding models, and agentic workflows
• I often have Docker containers, IDEs, and lots of browser tabs open
• Some workloads run locally, but I also use cloud GPUs (Colab/Kaggle/remote servers) for heavier training
• Locally I mostly experiment with RAG pipelines, embeddings, small models, and data processing

Because Apple uses unified memory, I'm wondering what matters more for my case:

• More RAM (32 GB) for multitasking and larger local workloads
• A stronger chip (M5 Pro) with more CPU/GPU cores but less memory

My main goals are:

• Smooth multitasking with AI tooling
• Ability to experiment locally when needed
• A laptop that stays relevant for 4–6 years

For those doing AI/ML or heavy development on Apple Silicon, which would you prioritize in this situation: RAM or the Pro chip?

Would really appreciate insights from people running LLMs, vector DBs, or RAG pipelines locally on MacBooks.