2020 Air vs 2020 13 Pro (base) for logic Pro X ?

[Michael San]

Hi,
first post here.
I want to replace my 2012 I5 Mac Mini and my 2019 iPad with either a 2020 i5 Air or the new 13 Base model Pro.
I use my iPad for web browsing and watching Youtube videos and the Mini for Pages and Logic Pro X.
Well I don‘t use much vst‘s in Logic. It‘s more like a tape recorder for my Guitars and Hardware Synths.
My files don‘t exceed 10-20 tracks But i record up to 10 audio tracks from the drum machine at the same time. A few are midi files but mostly Audio with EQ Compressor Reverb etc. here and there.

Now i can‘t decide between the i5 Air and the base model Pro. Does logic needs to more sustain higher Cpu of the Pro or the burst of the Air while editing the files?

 

[twintin]

This is about video editing with the base model, but may give you a hint of what can be enough.

 

[Pugly]

I'm getting a 2020 Air to run Logic Pro X. I run Logic on a 2015 i7 right now with no issues. You can do a lot in Logic without a strong CPU. The CPUs in low end Macs are faster than high end Macs from 5+ years ago... and those ran Logic and vsts with no problems.

I'm curious about how much the fan will kick in, and if sustained performance will be worse than my current MBA. But I doubt it. I can run 5 tracks or so with no problems, and if I want to push it I can run 20-50 tracks depending on what instruments/effects I'm using.

CPU use tends to be bursty, since during editing there are lots of stops and starts during tweaking. But the needs depends a lot on the types of projects.

Exporting can use a fast CPU to do it quickly. But it's much less demanding than video is, is the difference between taking 5mins or 10mins to export a big deal?

Heavy users shouldn't really even be looking at a 13" laptop anyways... the 16" and iMac or Mac mini are the real performers.