If you are afraid of things getting broken, simply use NixOS. All upgrades can be easily rolled back, and you can freeze updates of some packages, or get packages through different channels with different stability compromises. I prefer to get everything through rolling release channels, as then bugs come one by one.
I've been running Linux on a MacBook Air 11 2012 for years, and everything worked out of the box from day 1. For the record, that's a pure Intel machine with the exception of a Broadcom wireless card. Said card works equally bad in Linux and Mac, I don't get why Apple keeps sticking to this brand.
I was hoping to upgrade to one of the new 2020 Airs, which are again providing terrific value, a great screen and keyboard. Sadly, the T2 chip makes things a bit difficult. It's getting support for Linux, but there are still many glitches. My Mac was broken by some stupid inspector in my rental property, and it's sadly not so easy to find a decent replacement with all COVID restrictions.
Another option is the Surface line, which is surprisingly well supported. The Surface Go, for example, works incredibly well as a tablet. All recent Surface machines work quite well in Linux.
Else, your best bet is a ThinkPad or an XPS. Unfortunately, Chromebooks are no longer so easy to reflash.