This is also my approach, I do not really feel like it’s the best but it’s the one I happen to like 
My computers last me for almost decades.
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IMHO This is the correct reasoning, modulo platform architecture migrations like the Intel → ARM one. My 2018 Intel MBP lost half its resale value during 2019.
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Has anyone ever regretted having too much memory or too much storage on their Mac? 
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I regretted spending the money on a MBP with lots of RAM and SSD space, massively. It was the dodgy keyboard that ruined it in this case, but I certainly regret that purchase.
It was a lot of money wasted. I’m privileged enough to be able to absorb the loss, but it hurt.
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I am a fully loaded intel MacBook Pro 16 inch user. I love my machine to be honest. However the next one is likely to be a base line MacBook Air MI; really that is all I need, maybe a bigger one if my eyes need it, which now looks unlikely.
I like the full whack though I admit and cost is not a consideration really now; when it was of course I couldn’t even afford a base line Dell!! Same old story and why one sees older guys in certain types of car… 
But I have gone recently more ‘minimalist’ 'cos… , I am finding it good and I think a MacBook Air, base line once I am sure it will keep running for years, which I have every reason to think will be the case by then, will be my next machine. My ‘precious’ stuff is all text based and there is never a space shortage and I can keep copies on thumb drives and so on. Mac power is powered beyond the needs of most users I think, I have no hardware IT bottlenecks now, or software ones. All my issues are privacy, browser issues, paywalls that kind of thing.
I keep everything in DEVONthink 3 and back up those databases, most of my OS system could be gone with no real loss to me: other than in time to reinstall software. I might have some audio lectures that could be hard to replace but I would survive.
I have to say, I did wait out those keyboards. My 2014 MBP is still working and used a bit by me to date. I have too much RAM and SSD on my main machine, I don’t regret it but I am not sure I needed to spend what I did frankly. As I say in another comment my next machine will be a MacBook Air, 16GB probs. Really I think it is all I need these days.
You are likely correct. My M1 MacBook Air with 16GB and 1TB is the best Mac I’ve ever owned (going back to a Mac IIci), including a 2018 15-inch Intel i7 MacBook Pro with 16GB and 1TB, which I thought was a beast at the time.
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Thanks, nice to get confirmation from good sources and that probably settles my next purchase.
You don’t buy hardware on promises of future capabilities. Until Apple ships eGPU support on Apple Silicon, it does not exist.
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No, you buy the hardware you need today, or can afford!
But if you want to use your hardware an extended amount of time, and you are today in difficulties to pay for the hardware, you expect to need in, let’s say, 5 years, you can save your money today, and expect a solution in between!
I’ve always done the fully loaded but then I also keep my computers longer than average, my current iMac is a 2013 model. Max out memory and disk has always been my motto.
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No me, but I am doing things that take a fair amount of horsepower to run and work with very large datasets.
Fully Loaded or Base Model? What about a Middle Choice?
Hint: Future Proof Your Purchase!!! These days since Apple hardware is not updatable - I will generally make sure that whatever I buy it’s something I will still be happy with a few years down the road.
And since the term fully loaded (8 TB SSD) could mean a dramatic cost increase then I would rarely ever make that purchase. I simply calculate my current needs and also what I might need in a few years let that be my guide.
In my case I did buy a MacBook Pro 16 inch and did get the Max chip and 64 gigs ram - and in this case not that I needed the Max Chip or 64 gigs right now but figured who knows if we might need that in a few years and I will be glad that I made that choice.
Also thinking about current supply chain problems might be part of your purchase decisions as items seem to have longer wait times.
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I’m a fan of getting more RAM and skimping on the SSD upgrade, for the reasons above - SSD can always be added externally. Especially if you’re going to be mostly at a desk, with just occasional need for portable use. Docks are a Good Thing.
But also, I’d look carefully at Apple’s refurb shop. Usually getting a refurb equates to a discount that amounts to a free RAM or SSD upgrade ($200 or so).
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My first Mac was a 512KE. I upgraded it by adding a board with a 68030 processedrand a SCSI port.
After that I had a Quadra 700, a PowerMac G3, a Dual G4, a 2010 Mac Pro, all machines which were user upgradable. I purchased the 2010 Mac Pro in 2010 and retired it in 2019, replacing in with a 2018 Mac mini, a partially upgradable machine. (I had a few Mac laptops along the way as well.)
I bought the 512KE used. The others I bought knowing I could upgrade later. And upgrade I did.
The Apple world has changed. Alas, upgrading is no longer an option.
Now I buy as much machine as I can afford, knowing I’m locked in. I tend to use my machines for a long time before upgrading (the Mini to current Studio is a bit of an anomaly).
A different and also valid strategy is to buy the minimal machine the meets one’s current needs, and upgrade to a new machine, with current technology, as needed.
So to answer the OP’s question …
… Will the MacBook be your primary machine? If so I would max it out. If not, buy the minimum viable machine (and upgrade that iMac …).
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I’m using a late 2015 5k iMac, but it’s become quite slow. I need to use Adobe Audition, photoshop, illustrator and Acrobat as well as Office 365. I’m mostly a text user but lockdown forced me to become a video editor. I have quite a few meetings on Zoom.
The next mac does really need to replace this. Not sure if my late 2015 will upgrade to Ventura.
Nope, 2017 and later for Ventura. My wife and my M1 iMacs are the only Macs we have that will run Ventura.
I have to say the same after reading that. I was also surprised though I should not have been at the loss of value of my MacBook Pro 16’’. I was pondering a trade in for an M2, 400$ Apple said, in perfect condition but really obsolete. I am fine with it and it is the best computer I have ever owned and works for my needs perfectly so I sort of regret the cost but sort of don’t regret the spare power. It kind of grates somehow all the same.
Since I installed iStat I haven’t used even 16GB of working memory, I have 50 GB in the Apple cloud of storage, I have 46 GB of storage unused there and over 900 GB on the Mac unused, I think part of the issue is that some of us come from teh era when there was NEVER enough RAM or storage or speed and everything ran too hot all the time? I think we are at a kind of sea change for most users now, partly due to the cloud but also to the level of power machines now have.
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out of interest how much horsepower exactly do you use? Partly because over the next year or so I might, big might, use MATLABL on my own machine.
I’m doing some EBV (Estimated Breeding value) calculations on a pedigree database that consists of over 11,000 animals going back to 1974 on my 2013 iMac. This consists of solving a bunch of simultaneous linear equations. I can set a run up on the test database (3 generation, about 100 animals) and it takes several minutes to run to completion. Not that big a deal but as I add more traits to the analysis I expect it to end up taking up to several hours per run. I have yet to do a run with the entire pedigree database.
I have not done any detailed performance analysis to verify the exact usage it’s all just time to completion. .
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