Advice on Laptop purchase

a friend is looking to retire soon and mostly has used work laptops for personal use. He is asking for advice on a laptop purchase for when he has to return the corporate laptop. I have settled on a Microsoft Surface Pro for a variety of reasons, but I think he would prefer a traditional clamshell over the Surface. Since I have not kept up to date, I thought I would get some advice here.

I will likely suggest he look into Business models versus Consumer models, is that a good idea or am I missing something?

Should he choose Intel/AMD or ARM based solutions? I have not followed the Windows experience of Arm based laptops – is it any different than Intel/AMD?

Are laptops now all CoPilot compatible? I think the AI trends are inevitable and might as well have what is needed to benefit from the features.

are there specific vendors and models he should look at? I usually rely on online comparison reviews to reduce what to consider.

Thanks in advance!