Macbook Air M2(8gb) vs M3(16gb) vs M4(16gb) around ~70k

Need some advice from developers/students using MacBooks.

My budget is around ₹70k currently, but I can stretch if it’s genuinely worth it long term. I’m mainly going to use it for coding/web dev, college work, Docker, VS Code, multitasking etc.

Would you recommend:

•M2 Air 8GB

M3 Air 16GB

Or stretching further for M4 Air 16GB

How bad is 8GB RAM in 2026 for development? A lot of people say unified memory works differently on Macs, but I also see many recommending 16GB minimum.

Also, realistically what’s the best effective price I can expect in India after:

student discount

credit card offers

GST claim(Which I don't have)

One more thing: is AppleCare+ actually worth paying ~₹20k extra for if budget is already tight? Or is it unnecessary for most students if they handle the laptop carefully?