Am I Crazy? Videographer who canceled M1 MBP And Ordered an Air

[mkitchen]

Currently running a 2015 MBP 15” with quad 2.5 i7 and 2GB Video Card. I film most of my professional work in 10-bit H265 420 Log (From X-T3/4). I want so desparately to be able to actually play back H265 video in real time and make edits without stuttering. After seeing some reviews of the new M1 macs playing Canon H265 footage like butter, I reached for my credit card.

I ordered a MacBook Pro 13” with 16GB of RAM and 512 HD. And got my 3 week delivery window. Then I watched more reviews and comparisons and started realizing that 8GB of RAM would actually be enough and that the difference between a MPB and Air was really small... and since this is just supposed to be a stop-gap computer for the next year or two to make my editing more enjoyable, I decided to save $4-500 and order an Air with 8GB RAM and 512 HD (with the 8 core GPU) AND I can pick it up locally on Tuesday.

That all seems logical, right?

 

[cupcakes2000]

Will definitely work, and maybe even on par with your previous machine or better. Risky strategy though! I think for safety I would still have got at least the 16gb version!

 

[MuckrakerJG]

There’s a reason why the Verge gave the Air a 9.5 out of 10 review score but the Pro only 8.5 out of 10. They are both obviously excellent computers. But the Air is the better value, even if you go 8 GB RAM and 7 Core graphics. The extra $300 for the Pro is a big ask for what you actually get. Most reviews have said the fan in the Pro barely even comes on or they had to specifically try to make it come on by doing video editing while also playing multiple 4K YouTube videos, etc. You made the right call.

 

[Scarboose]

Nah, 8 is enough! With the M1 (and future CPUs made by Apple), the amount of RAM needed isn’t the same! I believe that the standard we used on Intel Macs does not carry over to M1 Macs when it comes to RAM

 

[mkitchen]

Cupcakes2000:
"Will definitely work, and maybe even on par with your previous machine or better. Risky strategy though! I think for safety I would still have got at least the 16gb version!"

It's not "on par" with my current MBP if it can't even playback H265 footage without stuttering and the new M1s can playback H265 in a higher bit rate with luts and corrections applied with no issues. It is "on par" with a 2019 16" MBP.

 

[KennnyF1]

I should be getting 16GB for my Mac Mini for photo and video editting but ffs.. If there are none available until black friday, I'm calling it a day and go for 8GB and save my money for future Macs

 

[James_C]

It's not "on par" with my current MBP if it can't even playback H265 footage without stuttering and the new M1s can playback H265 in a higher bit rate with luts and corrections applied with no issues. It is "on par" with a 2019 16" MBP.

Your correct, I benchmarked my late 2016 2.7GHz 16GB MacBook Pro against my new M1 Air and it is twice as fast, and unlike the poor MBP whose fans sounded like a jumbo taking off with the Cinebench benchmark the Air was cold and silent,

 

[James_C]

Also I think you made the right call to go for the Air.

 

[Internaut]

And another. The Air should be fine.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Cupcakes2000:
"Will definitely work, and maybe even on par with your previous machine or better. Risky strategy though! I think for safety I would still have got at least the 16gb version!"

It's not "on par" with my current MBP if it can't even playback H265 footage without stuttering and the new M1s can playback H265 in a higher bit rate with luts and corrections applied with no issues. It is "on par" with a 2019 16" MBP.

That’s why I said the word ‘Maybe’.

 

[mkitchen]

Also I think you made the right call to go for the Air.

Yeah, this is the video that sealed it for me... plus I ordered the Air with the 8 core GPU.

 

[lightfire]

There’s a reason why the Verge gave the Air a 9.5 out of 10 review score but the Pro only 8.5 out of 10. They are both obviously excellent computers. But the Air is the better value, even if you go 8 GB RAM and 7 Core graphics. The extra $300 for the Pro is a big ask for what you actually get. Most reviews have said the fan in the Pro barely even comes on or they had to specifically try to make it come on by doing video editing while also playing multiple 4K YouTube videos, etc. You made the right call.

I keep seeing this $300 differential being referred to. If a person wants an optimized solution with 16gb and 1tb drive, it is $250 difference. Many see this as a small price to pay for a brighter screen and a cooling fan, improved speakers and mic. For my use, a 512 GB or less drive is something from the ancient past. Even 1 TB is small, but will work in most cases. All this would be different if a user could upgrade the memory and storage, but they cant. What everyone gets is all they will ever have. Audio plug-ins instruments libraries can take a huge chunk of data. Add on external drives can be useful but remember we only have two ports. And, for use other than web browsing (which I think is the largest use case), zoom, word processing short documents, office apps, etc, 16gb memory comes in handy for many users.I would not purchase a machine for video or audio editing without 16gb minimum And 1tb storange.

 

[Strangedream]

The MBA is cannibalizing the MBP offering this year. The 2 extra hours of battery, 100 extra nits, and Touch Bar don't justify the $250/$300 difference.

 

[yoak]

Techkhamun

This channel is to show my interests in Technology, Camera Gear and Tech News. This is a passion of mine and I really enjoy doing this so please sub and like...

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This is interesting He really liked the Air, but ran into RAM problems on both (8GB) when doing long exports

 

[lightfire]

The MBA is cannibalizing the MBP offering this year. The 2 extra hours of battery, 100 extra nits, and Touch Bar don't justify the $250/$300 difference.

In other computers, I have seen people willingly pay $100+ for battery upgrades in order to get a couple of extra hours. Depends on the use. Obviously if a person uses it only at home, then it may not justify extra expense; but then the desktop solution may be better instead of the portable solution, if plugged in all the time.

 

[lightfire]

Techkhamun

This channel is to show my interests in Technology, Camera Gear and Tech News. This is a passion of mine and I really enjoy doing this so please sub and like...

www.youtube.com

This is interesting He really liked the Air, but ran into RAM problems on both (8GB) when doing long exports

Exactly. I have no problem with an Air, but cant see 8GB for many creative users.

 

[Strangedream]

In other computers, I have seen people willingly pay $100+ for battery upgrades in order to get a couple of extra hours. Depends on the use. Obviously if a person uses it only at home, then it may not justify extra expense; but then the desktop solution may be better instead of the portable solution, if plugged in all the time.

True, it depends on the use case and personal preferences.

However the MBA already delivers an excellent battery life up to 18h as stated by Apple vs. 20h for the MBP. This is only a 10% delta compared to say an IP 12 mini vs IP 12 Pro Max where you're talking about a 25% delta.

 

[mkitchen]

Techkhamun

This channel is to show my interests in Technology, Camera Gear and Tech News. This is a passion of mine and I really enjoy doing this so please sub and like...

www.youtube.com

This is interesting He really liked the Air, but ran into RAM problems on both (8GB) when doing long exports

Interesting. Looks like it was a 20 minute video, I can’t remember the last time I edited one that long. Still good to know. I will definitely run some tests when I get it...

 

[acidfast7_redux]

Which companies have you on retainer and how many customers did you service last year?

Those are the key questions.

I'd wager that 8GB and the MBA will be more than enough for your purposes.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Nah, 8 is enough! With the M1 (and future CPUs made by Apple), the amount of RAM needed isn’t the same! I believe that the standard we used on Intel Macs does not carry over to M1 Macs when it comes to RAM

This is simply not true.

 

[Scarboose]

This is simply not true.

Care to explain?

 

[magbarn]

For video editing the extra 2 TB ports were the differentiator as you can plug in 2 scratch disks, xqd reader and charger all at once with the higher end mbp 13. Since the m1 mbp this year only has 2 ports, the mbp doesn’t have the advantages for me as it used to have with this current crop. I also prefer real keys. I returned the early 2020 intel mba as it throttled like hell. This new mba 2020 m1 is a cool running beast.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Care to explain?

MacOS is still MacOS. It's not iOS. Things are allowed to run in the background and use resources. The CPU architecture doesn't change the way RAM is utilized. You're not going to magically get the benefits of 16GB of RAM with 8GB just because it's not x86. There also seems to be some misunderstanding about what the unified memory architecture does and how it works which may be where some of these outrageous claims are coming from.

 

[acidfast7_redux]

MacOS is still MacOS. It's not iOS. Things are allowed to run in the background and use resources. The CPU architecture doesn't change the way RAM is utilized. You're not going to magically get the benefits of 16GB of RAM with 8GB just because it's not x86. There also seems to be some misunderstanding about what the unified memory architecture does and how it works which may be where some of these outrageous claims are coming from.

There's been no real world difference shown between the 8 and 16 GB models of the same line.

You're preaching theory when we want actionable evidence, which you fail to provide.

 

[acidfast7_redux]

For video editing the extra 2 TB ports were the differentiator as you can plug in 2 scratch disks, xqd reader and charger all at once with the higher end mbp 13. Since the m1 mbp this year only has 2 ports, the mbp doesn’t have the advantages for me as it used to have with this current crop. I also prefer real keys. I returned the early 2020 intel mba as it throttled like hell. This new mba 2020 m1 is a cool running beast.

Agree. I only see minuses with the MBP versus MBA.

Never thought I'd type that.