Air M5 - 2 extra gpu cores make a difference?

[DMB1]

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my m1 air 8gb 512gb.


I'm deciding between the 13 m5 air with 24gb 512gb and the 14 m5 pro 16gb 512gb.


Both are working out similar price based on promotions on both devices.


I'm a sports coach and record a lot of my sessions and edit 4k footage (about 5 hours a week). I've noticed the m1 has started to slow down.


What is the best one to go for based on the above? Both are working out similar price (give or take £70-£80 in the uk)

I normally keep my devices for around 4-5 years.

Thanks


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[snipr125]

Honestly you cant go wrong with either, but if it was me then the MBP if its only £70-80 difference. If it was the MBA 15" model then id say get that for its larger display. Both devices can edit 4k footage like butter so no worries there at all.

 

[tutubibi]

I think extra 8GB of RAM is worth more long-term so I would go with MacBook Air.

 

[1BadManVan]

The air can easily handle editing 4k footage no problem, they've come a long way since the M1 series. I would personally get the air for the extra ram, you can always add more external storage later, can't add more ram

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Either will "handle" 4k video editing with little problem.

What's worth more to you - a slightly larger, brighter display? Or slightly better performance from 24GB RAM?

 

[Abazigal]

I'm deciding between the 13 m5 air with 24gb 512gb and the 14 m5 pro 16gb 512gb.

Are you referring to the 14" MBP with the M5 chip or the M5 Pro chip? The M5 Pro chip comes with 24gb ram base, and is clearly much more powerful, but also way more expensive.

Personally, I am not a fan of the M5 MBP base model. You are paying a little more for a better screen, improved speakers, more ports and better cooling, but it's still the same chip and you lose the portability. It's still a solid laptop all around, just neither here nor there.

I would recommend going with the M5 air with more ram, but if you are doing a lot of video editing, I might propose the 15" air instead for the larger screen (unless you find it too big for your needs).

 

[CSAppleFan]

do you do a lot of editing on the go in between coaching sessions? If so I would say the Air is the best choice due its thinness and weight. I have had both and IMO the Pro is also portable just a little bit more chunkier but for me I prefer the quality display so I do not mind it

 

[DMB1]

Thanks everyone.

After each session, I’ll come home and upload and clip the footage, normally 45mins to an hour 4 times a week then matchday footage is normally around 100mins.

All editing is done at home and very very rarely ever done away from home, but the Mac is taken with me to training ground for presentations etc.

Few have mentioned the 15 air, I think I would I would love the extra room, but a 24gb with 512gb is around £1499 before AC.

 

[DMB1]

Either will "handle" 4k video editing with little problem.

What's worth more to you - a slightly larger, brighter display? Or slightly better performance from 24GB RAM?

If I don’t need the extra performance I would go for the pro.

I’m trying to gauge if I need the extra performance.

I jump between iMovie and FCP depending on what I’m doing.

With the m1, editing the iMovie it struggled with large files

 

[AppleForeverandEver]

Either would be a giant leap/upgrade and will blow your socks off. Much has improved since the M1.

 

[DMB1]

So i think I’ve ruled out the pro on the basis of extra ram.

So new question is -

13 with base config, will the 2 less gpu cores make much difference?

Or is worth adding £200 to get the extra ram which comes with the 10gpu chip?

512gb suffice for my use?

 

[throAU]

So i think I’ve ruled out the pro on the basis of extra ram.

So new question is -

13 with base config, will the 2 less gpu cores make much difference?

Or is worth adding £200 to get the extra ram which comes with the 10gpu chip?

512gb suffice for my use?

What are you trying to run on it?

Anything outside of games or 3d rendering you won't really notice the lack of GPU cores. The M5 (unlike the M1) has a seperate media engine (seperate from the GPU) which will do most of the work for encode/etc. when editing/encoding video with final cut. The GPU cores may make a difference if you're heavy on effects but i doubt you'll miss them if you never had them.

If you ARE doing those things, maybe the pro with a fan would be better.

512 GB storage depends entirely on your use case. I'd say 1TB would be worth more in terms of longevity and quality of life with the machine than the extra GPU cores. It means you can spend less time shuffling data around if/when you run out of space.

 

[boswald]

If it were up to me, I'd get the extra RAM for longevity.

 

[DMB1]

What are you trying to run on it?

Anything outside of games or 3d rendering you won't really notice the lack of GPU cores. The M5 (unlike the M1) has a seperate media engine (seperate from the GPU) which will do most of the work for encode/etc. when editing/encoding video with final cut. The GPU cores may make a difference if you're heavy on effects but i doubt you'll miss them if you never had them.

If you ARE doing those things, maybe the pro with a fan would be better.

512 GB storage depends entirely on your use case. I'd say 1TB would be worth more in terms of longevity and quality of life with the machine than the extra GPU cores. It means you can spend less time shuffling data around if/when you run out of space.

Again all I’ll be using it for is editing 4k footage, nothing special. Basically clipping each individuals performance and training and uploading direct to YouTube.

Outside of that I’ll doing the normal stuff browsing, word documents, PowerPoint presentations etc.

No gaming at all