I wouldn't say Apple is a cult, as long as you know what the advantages and limitations are. If the piece of software you would like to use works best on a Mac, then it's the one for you.
Their M2 chip is certainly a powerhouse. That being said, with only 512GB of storage you may find yourself quickly running out of storage if you're dealing with lots of 4K videos. A large external drive, or a NAS will be a must for you.
Yeah upgrades like hard drive space or RAM is where they get you. I have a 4TB external HDD and I'll Also get a 1 or 2 TB SSB Thunderbolt to work on directly. I like my main hard drive clean usually, only for software and minimal stuff.
I would say that's one of the biggest downsides to running a Mac - their lack of modularity. Most PC's, even cheaper pre-built models, are fully modular, and it's fairly easy to install more memory, additonal harddrives, a better graphics adapter, network or video capture cards, etc. A Mac, on the other hand, is completely locked down these days. I don't think you can even change out the memory any more. It's sautered to the motherboard. As such, you need to accuratly predict how much memory you'll require over the course of the machine's lifespan, and pay for it all up front.
FWIW, I may be a little biased. I've been into custom building my own high end PC"s for a couple of decades now.