Seeking advice for replacing older iMac and iPad Pro with a single device

I have a really old iMac that I need to recycle, but have not done so yet until I make sure I have another way to access the files on it. I also have an older generation iPad Pro that I use almost exclusively for daily needs and does everything I need (minus the external drive compatibility). My iPad will soon need to be replaced also, so I looked at new MacBooks, but am frustrated that they are not compatible with Apple Pencil. I do a lot of photo editing and drawing on my iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil, but I don’t want to buy an expensive laptop AND an expensive iPad when I don’t need the overlap in functionality and would only need the new iPad as an external drawing pad. I honestly don’t love the feel of drawing on the smooth iPad screen and I have seen a lot of 3rd party drawing tablets advertising a “paper feel” and am wondering if there are any that work well with MacBook? Are there other combinations of equipment that would allow me to access my files AND draw? I would be willing to replace Apple Pencil with whatever other stylus type device was needed.

Basically, I need a device that can access my archived files and a device to draw on with Apple Pencil or similar stylus. I’ve accepted that I probably can’t accomplish this with a single Apple device unfortunately. Any advice is appreciated.