Can I upgrade from old MacBook Pro straight to M1 24" iMac?

My "big dawg" 2011 17" MacBook Pro has served me so well for a whole decade, and it's finally saying goodbye. The logic board (too expensive to replace) is dying quickly and I need to replace it with another computer asap. I really want the 16" MacBook Pro with the M1 (or M2?) chip but it won't be available until later this year hopefully. In the meantime, i had already been interested in getting a desktop so my plan is to pick up the M1 24" iMac now, and buy the 16" MacBook when it's available.

I was able to back up my dying 17" using time machine. But my questions are...if my 17" is running High Sierra:

1. Can the time machine backup be restored to the new iMac running the latest OSX? (Will it be able to overwrite it with High Sierra?)
2. if the restore is successful, will my existing applications like photoshop, office work with the M1 architecture?
3. if this restore method doesn't work what other options do i have?