Most sales twits try to talk you into something more expensive. I'm a realist, and try to get my customers into the best value. My technique rarely fails.
Paul is big into design stuff, so he might need more power, but there is very little power difference between the 8/7 and the 8/8, although it might make better sense for him in the long run. Still, my point stands. Even if he chooses the 8/8 and 16GB RAM, that's still the same price as the old 6-core with 16GB RAM, but the computer is vastly better.
His post is a bit cryptic, because he talks about getting the "better" 21.5" 4k, but then uses the cheaper model's price to make his point.
I can tell you both right now,
there is no price hike. The prices and options are identical, but you get a significantly better computer for the same money.
A base model with less cores was/is $1299; RAM is $200
An upgraded model with more cores was/is $1499; RAM is $200.
The prices are the same! But the M1 entry model with less cores is now much faster than the Intel version's upgraded model with more cores. So, if you look at all of the variables, a faster computer is now $200 cheaper than last season's faster computer. In fact, it's actually faster than last season's
fastest 21.5" 6-core i7 version.
And that is not a price hike.