For ram, I would suggest crucial in whatever speed or capacity you want

For storage, I would go with samsung or sabrent

There are other good brands, but these are the ones I’m choosing

As someone who has used the touchbar, it is infinitely worse than the function row. It makes changing the volume a 2 or 3 button press and looking down at the touchbar instead of using muscle memory to blindly reach and make a quick change. Apple had the best chance of getting software support because they made both the operating system and the hardware, and they’re known for being the most capable of getting new technologies supported by third parties. While not always the case, I think that if apple couldn’t make the touchbar successful, then no one else can.