Yeah, I got an M1 Max last year and just couldn't bear to spend on the extra storage, that's a legitimate issue for gaming too, where are you going to store these games? To be fair the Apple internal storage is very quick, no idea how it stacks up, but I've seen people say it's faster than other storage.
Fwiw, I had a Mac of a similar vintage to yours and occasionally have to use it now, the new machines, as you would expect are a significant jump forward. If you've been waiting for a significant enough jump (I was) then I'd say now meets that criteria.