I was contemplating buying a used Mac Mini dedicated to video editing as it was the only solution I could think but switching between different machines to finish a project doesn't sound appealing. I just don't like to waste my time in front of the computer. Exporting took an average amount of time, but I don't care much about export times - unless it is abnormal - as I can always use a break for a coffee. It was not a fun experience but I managed to finish the video, after a lot of frustration frankly. Nothing changed, rendering takes several minutes and working on the edits is a nightmare as playback is sluggish. I decided to close all apps, restart my MacBook and try again to work on my video, only with Final Cut running at this time. As I wrote in my review, I like to keep all apps open as I usually go back and forth between them exporting files on Logic Pro while rendering the video on Final Cut, at the same time editing photos on Fuji X Raw Studio or Affinity Photo. I had to wait to be able to playback my video if the edit was not timed perfectly and had to adjust something, I had to wait some more.Īt first, I thought that I have too many things run in the background. After doing all that, the problem was that every time I would make a change, Final Cut would take several minutes to render the video again.

I would then wait for Final Cut to render the files and then try to fine-tune my edits, add transition effects, text, etc. I followed my usual routine of importing my video files in Final Cut, roughly cut the parts that I needed, syncing audio and then applying colour grading and a film-simulation plugin. I'll be honest, in my first attempt to edit a 4K video with the 2020 Air, I got disappointed. If on the other hand, you value portability, need snappy performance for everyday tasks and enough power for non-extreme loads (like acoustic music production, light photo editing etc.) but want to occasionally edit a 4K video and not to spend a fortune, then continue reading.

If your work involves creating hour-long 12-bit 4K video documentaries, with multiple layers, advanced colour grading and other visual effects, you should look at the 16' MacBook Pro or even better a top-of-the-line iMac or Mac Pro. Let me start by stating the obvious the 2020 MacBook is not a video editing powerhouse.

Macbook pro 13 for video editing