Glad to hear it's a hobby, that's how I got started
The computing power needs is less about the language you choose but rather what you're going to build. For example, developing mobile applications would be a more CPU intensive task (compiling) and probably benefit from more RAM (16 or even 32) so that makes more sense to upgrade.
Working on games would certainly benefit from an upgrade including GPU.
Finally, there's another limitation of the M1 machines (MBA, Mini and 13" MBP) which is external displays support. AFAIK they can only support 1 external display.
Many programmers (including myself) enjoy working with more than one external display, typically with high pixel density for crisp fonts. If you plan to work with more than one external display in the future you might have to upgrade anyway.
I will iterate again over my previous point - if the price isn't an issue you would certainly benefit from any of those machines in the long term. Your interests should affect the configuration of the machine.
If you are sold on those machines, providing more information regarding your interests would help others to recommend a certain config so you get a better idea of the budget.