Any Intel based Air should work fine. You can even get ssd adapters to use regular nvme drives. I did that and got a 4x read, 2x write io boost.

Newer models are all arm based and Linux options are not as good on those AFAIK

Thanks 🙏 Thats wild. Like you replace the SSD inside with nvme?

Yes, exactly.

I am not a technical expert but I would never buy a refurnished device of any kind for privacy issues just to safe a few bucks. Any pre-used device is linked to a hardware ID.

Something like these. It's just a mechanical adapter that makes the pinouts compatible. Apple had their own special drive connector because they are a garbage company, and wanted to overcharge for storage. China to the rescue. https://www.amazon.com/macbook-ssd-adapter/s?k=macbook+ssd+adapter