I Didn’t Expect That… M1 MacBook Air vs 16" MacBook Pro

Image courtesy of author

Last week, my M1-powered MacBook Air arrived.

I had opted for the base spec version — literally the cheapest M1 MacBook you can buy. That meant it arrived with an 8-core processor, 7-core GPU, a 256GB SSD drive and just 8GB of RAM.

8GB! In 2020!

By comparison, my 16" MacBook Pro is a beast. Intel i9 8-core processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and the best discreet graphics available.

I have a full M1 MacBook Air review in the works, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d just spent £999 on an M1 MacBook. Could it really keep pace with my £3,500 MacBook Pro?

So, I decided to run a little test, and the results were fascinating.

You can watch the video, here:

The Final Cut Pro battle

With limited time on my hands, I decided to conduct a quick but thorough test with a tool which I knew would put both machines through their paces.