M1 MBA or MBPro - difference in video editing

[tuqqer]

A real estate friend who builds nice videos in Screenflow is upgrading his Mac, wants to know what the real difference in video editing would be between the M1 Airs and Pros. 13" is all he needs.

If anyone has seen tests between them, please pass on any links. I'm searching around too. Or real world experience

[mikebw]

Same M1 chip, so the only difference is going to be the fan in the Pro which will allow for cooling the system down- if it ever gets to that point.

[C(-)ris]

The Pro has one extra GPU Core. I'd go with the Pro for video editing.

Chris

[jdc]

There are dozens, if not over 100 videos on YT doing this exact thing.

Assuming he's not getting the base model of either version, performance is *identical*.

Where the MBP beats the MBA is in *long* extended video production and battery life. When the MBA gets too hot from working hard, it throttles. MBP the fan kicks on, keeping it cool. Battery in the MBP is bigger, so it last several extra hours.

If his primary day in day out use is video (especially 4K) Id be inclined to go MBP. If its just a few 1-2 minute videos from time to time, MBA is fine.

Pretty sure ADorama still has them on sale, all configs

[mikebw]

C(-)ris wrote:
The Pro has one extra GPU Core. I'd go with the Pro for video editing.

Chris

Agree, however worth pointing out that only the base Air has 7-core GPU while the step up model has 8, just the same as the Pro.

[space-time]

you can get the MBA and convert it into a MBP for about $3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghDvyItIHTY

Also that kid has many other videos on MBA vs MBP

[Sarcany]

space-time wrote:
you can get the MBA and convert it into a MBP for about $3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghDvyItIHTY

Also that kid has many other videos on MBA vs MBP

Or, for $30 don't void your warranty and just sit it on a cooling pad that has a nice big fan in it when you need the extra performance.

[tuqqer]

Fascinating info, thanks all. We're going with the MBA 512 with 8G, I think he'll be fine with that.

[C(-)ris]

space-time wrote:
you can get the MBA and convert it into a MBP for about $3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghDvyItIHTY

Also that kid has many other videos on MBA vs MBP

Interesting, that isn't a kid though. he facial hair gives it away.

I might try that on the M1 that I have, if I ever push it to the point that it slows down.

[sekker]

Interesting modification turning the bottom of the case into a heat sink for the MBA.

If we ever hit a performance bottleneck on ours, I will try it.

At the moment, it's super fast even with this theoretical thermal throttling limit.