True MacBooks were discontinued in summer 2019. Your choice today is Macbook Air or Macbook Pro.
The one recommended to you is probably fine but I offer some things for your consideration:
Gaming: current Macbook Airs have no cooling fans. We see reports here about M-series Macbook Airs running hot when gaming or streaming video. The latter includes video-conferencing. We cannot tell if the reported overheating led to any failures but it may cause the system to clock back until temps fall. There are ways to mitigate heat issues:
Keep your Mac laptop within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support
Storage and RAM. No Mac laptops offer user-upgradeable storage or memory/RAM. What you order today is your "forever" RAM and storage. IHMO, 512GB SSD storage is the minimum one should consider. You might see if you can afford 1TB. 16GB RAM should be fine however.
Ports: If you need ports, you need to go with the Macbook Pro or lug around a dock with you. Both the 13- and 15-inch Macbook Airs have only this:
and, if you need ot use an external monitor, one gets used for that .
Entry-level Macbook Pros have this port layout:
Note the dedicated HDMI port and card reader.
If it comes down to cost, you have to do what works. If your budget limits up-ordering to one item, I'd at least make sure you have NO LESS than the 512GB storage your friend mentioned.
Not telling you to do but rather showing things to consider that are never in the sell sheets. You know your needs and budget better than I ever will!
Regards,
Allan
