Nothing I do requires that level of hardware; 100% of what I do could be done on a Raspberry Pi, it would just take a lot longer and be a lot more frustrating. A $300 beater (or even a $3000 reliable used car) and an $80k BMW will both get you from A to B.

I provide security, software/architecture design, and product consulting to small businesses; I have been making and breaking web and web-adjacent applications for 20 years.

It’s super nice not waiting (as much) on one’s computer. The additional RAM is the most important part.

That would count as a requirement in my book - reclaiming as much time as possible from my local development process so that I can spend it doing other things.

I bought an entry-level trash can Mac Pro on launch and it's my daily driver to this day. It's still great but is outclassed by the new MacBook Pros in every way except noise levels. I'm sad that there is no $3000 base model like there was previously, because I really enjoy having development workstations.

I agree wholeheartedly; my time is my only truly nonrenewable resource. I trade money for more time whenever and wherever possible.

That's full time work with 2 weeks vacation at $150/hour, which is a typical mid-high freelancer rate in my experience.

are freelancers typically fully employed? you have lots of downtime and chasing the next client, writing RFPs.

IOW, yes $150/hr full-time == $300k, but $150/hr as a freelancer != $300k.