I’d recommend Pro and invest in Ram
Even if its seems expensive now it will extend the life a couple of years probably. For LR and external SSD can work well and still be fast enough. So I’d favor RAM before anything else.Reply

Following Bruno's good advice, I would say the Air is excellent also (use it for design/dev/photo) and the M Series all good. I'm running a M4 Macbook Air with 32GB Ram and 2TB. The Pro does give you more ports, but that's easily solvable on the Air with a simple dock.

Basically since the M came out it's been great, and M3/M4/M5 all good. For me the 15" Air is a nice sweet spot, and I use it docked with monitor. If I was doing it again, I'd focus more on Ram than anything else, and even consider a refurbished M4 instead of an M5 if the price was good and it meant I got more RAM.

In my mind the Pro's are excellent (used to have one) but only come into their own if you do heavy 3D or Video work, and the Air plenty. We are in a golden age of good macs!Reply

Air! Don’t waste your cash on a Pro. Does the job. Get 1tb and max out the RAM - job jobbedReply

One thing I like about my Pro is the internal SD card reader - saves one more dongle (if your camera uses SD). Also the fans do often engage when doing a big import/export in LR.

I went for a 24/512 M4 Pro last year (used for software development as well) and I'm happy with the RAM but wish I had larger storage. I have an external SSD but it would be more convenient to have more projects internal.Reply

I have a MacBook Pro 16", and it's my most-used device. Even though it's a bit heavy to take with me when travelling, I'm always grateful to have it when I do bring it.

The deciding factor for me was the screen quality. The XDR screen on the pro is as good as their new £3000 studio display, and editing photos on it is very nice.

However, i haven't kept up with the newer airs. Their screens might be as good now?Reply

I just picked up a used M4 MacBook Air with 16GB ram for about £800 and it's incredible.Reply