AC
I think you have a general misunderstanding of how these AC units normally function. The air inlet duct is for the condenser. Air from outside is drawn through the condenser and exhausted the exhaust vent. This is to dump the heat which builds up in the condenser from compressing the refrigerant.
The cooling part is the evaporator. Air from inside the house is drawn through the evaporator and vented back into the house.
Unless this is some fancy model with a heat exchanger or doubles as a fresh air intake. The evaporator and condenser sections are isolated from eachother. Air from outside never goes into your house. Excepting possible some small leakage if it isn't totally sealed. The air only goes from outside through the condenser then back outside. It would be totally inefficient to do otherwise.
Here's a very rough diagram of what I'm talking about.
View: https://imgur.com/a/g8RVdVy
The main reason you want a portable with two ducts is so the air circulates through the condenser continuously. These are far more energy efficient and effective than a single duct unit. I'm not even sure how a single duct unit manages to work.
HEPA filter
These are extremely fine filters. They are equivalent to a MERV rating of 17-20. It's doubtful you'll find these in any portable AC unit. They require considerably more powerful fans/blowers with a high static pressure than most units can handle. Heck most home furnaces can't handle this either. They crap out at around MERV 12/13. Hospitals and labs use much more powerful commercial HVAC systems which can handle the restricted air flow.
You'll want a separate room air purifier for this. Large units move a lot more air. If you're dealing with a lot of smoke you'll want this. As they typically have multiple filter stages. These stages help the HEPA filter last longer. As they get the larger contaminants. Reducing what the expensive HEPA filter deals with. A good unit will have a pre-filter, carbon filter and HEPA filter. They are noisy as the HEPA filter needs a powerful blower to move air through it.
Smoke
I assume you are concerned about the smell and irritation from particles. A good air purifier with hepa filtration will handle this pretty well. How well depends on the capabilities of the system. There'll always be some odor as your apartment isn't designed to be fully sealed with fresh air coming through a heat exchanger. Where you'd be able to filter all incoming air.
Just note the filters only good for particulates and odors. You also want it to have a carbon/charcoal filter stage as this handles some other chemicals in the smoke and absorbs some of the odors. Neither the HEPA or carbon filter can do everything. That's why you want stages.
Water
Unless you want to be dumping water frequently. You need to run a hose from the AC outside. Put the AC on a little platform so it's higher than the hose. End those hose a few feet away from your door outside if you can. You don't want to attract bugs anymore than you have to.
Sealing
Seal the unit at the door or window the inlet/outlet duct is. This will reduce energy waste and insects getting in. You'll also notice a partially open window or sliding glass door also has a gap between panes. Fill the gap with foam weather stripping. Really just look all around the door or window for any opening air or bugs can get through and seal them. Wedge something in the top and bottom of the door to make it so no one can open it. You can get door security bars for this.
Humidifier
If you are in a part of CA with dry air. The AC is just going to make this worse. Really dry air can cause all sorts of sinus issues. You may want a humidifier to get some moisture back into your air.