I have used Thinkpads for over a decade and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I can't imagine any scenario where a MacBook M chip would be required to be productive, it feels like a weird hill to die on.
Battery life is horrendous (despite extensive tuning). The speakers are complete crap (despite using Easy Effects). Fans get loud sometimes because, well, it's x86_64.
It's a shame, because even though the Apple Silicon CPU is faster on paper, the same task flies on the Thinkpad compared to the Mac. And of course the Thinkpad's keyboard is fantastic.
Honestly the one thing I simply can't look past are the speakers. I work from home so battery life isn't a massive issue for me. Fans I can look past. But I simply cannot stand listening to music or watch a YouTube video on it, they are SO bad.
OTOH with Linux you can get an OLED display and amazing speakers right now if you want!
That said I don't have high CPU processes running all the time. If I did I imagine the battery life difference would be more of a problem.