16GB intel i5 vs 8GB M1 for heavy photo edit?

[Mac133]

Hi everyone, I'm currently using base 2020 Mbp 13'' with 16gb ram but finding apps such topaz products are and big tiff raw files editing a bit slow and sometimes crashing and not finishing the task. I certainly need serious desktop such Mac studio/pro is, but since my budget is limited and I would benefit from even temporary solution, I was thinking about switching to the same model year m1 air?

What are your thoughts, m1 is a lot faster, but I can get only the one with 8gb ram, and my pro is 16, would m1 chip compensate for that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Basic75]

Personally I would not buy a new computer with 8GB RAM because that would seriously hamper longevity (unless you are sure that the machine will only be used for trivial tasks for the next 7-8 years, which is not your case.) The M1 is really fast, but it, too, needs RAM to work well. How much swap is your machine using when the application crashes?