Reddit mentions of ORICO Transparent NVMe M.2 Enclosure Tool-Free USB3.1 Type-C Gen2 10Gbps to M.2 SSD Enclosure for Intel 660p/Samsung 970 EVO/Samsung970 Pro 2230/2242/2260/2280 PCIe NVMe M-Key SSD up to 2TB - Blue

The enclosure is wrong, if you get M.2 (stick) shaped SSD, you need a box of M.2 shape too. That box holds mSATA shape, which is business card-like SSD and not as small as M.2 stick. (https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/mSATA-SSD-mSATA-solid-state-drive) And also other than the shape, how data reads out is by SATA (old tech) not NVMe (new tech which the WD Blue use)

The correct one from ORICO brand is this https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Aluminum-Enclosure-Ultra-Slim-External/dp/B07R9R2W45 you can see in the product image that it can do M.2 stick as long as it is NVMe and not SATA. (Yes there are M.2 shaped SSD sticks with the old SATA tech too, which will not work with this box. But since WD Blue is both M.2 shape and NVMe tech it works.) You can also use other brands as long as it says M.2 and NVMe together, and no SATA.

Also you have to look for the "key". The WD Blue is "B+M keyed", as you can see there are 2 holes with the word B and M printed on the circuit. The ORICO enclosure I linked is an M type. I just want to say that you don't have to worry when you put your B+M stick in the box and you see the B hole didn't going through anything, it is just a system to prevent incompatibility. (So in the case if you got a B-only stick, then it is physically prevented from using with this box)

Also it gets really hot during use, so while the cool looking one like this : https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Transparent-Enclosure-Tool-Free-Samsung970/dp/B07QVBZZTR is tempting and cheaper I think you should purchase the aluminum one since there is a thermal pad that contact the SSD and helps bring out the heat to the shell. Also that box is a "tool-free", so you can just slide open the box. I hate that because it is prone to something spilling into the box. I prefer something with screw lock, you likely not going to repeatedly remove and switch the innards of the box that often.

I would get a pcie nvme m.2 external enclosure that supports 10Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 or is that now USB 3.2 gen 2? Anyway to take advanatge of the pcie nvme speeds don't bottleneck yourself with a 5.Gbps USb connection

https://www.atpinc.com/blog/what-is-m.2-M-B-BM-key-socket-3

you want either a B+M key or a M key

heres a example of a pcie nvme m.2 M-key connector external enclosure

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QVBZZTR/?coliid=I2TE1ACEDZ207D&colid=2CLAN336C1ACF&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

​

I jusr re=read your post and it seems you want a sata m.2 ssd.

I would go with base 13” model with 16gb of RAM and a 128gb.

The money saved could go to

2TB Intel 660p NVMe M.2 SSD

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Internal-Solid-State-SSDPEKNW020T8X1/dp/B07GCLLKDC

Orico NVMe M.2 USB-C enclosure

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Transparent-Enclosure-Tool-Free-Samsung970/dp/B07QVBZZTR

Razer Core X eGPU

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Core-Thunderbolt-External-Enclosure/dp/B07CQG2K5K

As for GPU recommendation... you may want to wait for macOS Mojave comes out. Hopefully it will include drivers for AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT