Stick with the MacBook Pro for heavy video editing.

No. The MacBook Air can technically edit 4K ProRes, but it’s like asking a Toyota Corolla to tow a boat – it’ll do it for a bit, then struggle.

The Air’s biggest problem is that it has no fan. Under sustained heavy loads like exporting or scrubbing through ProRes timelines, it will thermal throttle. That means performance drops to keep the chip from melting. The MacBook Pro has active cooling, so it can run at full speed for hours. You’ll notice this immediately in export times: the Pro finishes in half the time, sometimes less.

There are other practical differences, too. The Pro comes with way more RAM options (up to 128GB vs 24GB on the Air), and the higher-end models have extra GPU cores and faster memory bandwidth. If you’re doing anything beyond lightweight cuts and color tweaks – think multichannel timelines, heavy effects, or long renders – the Air will become a frustration machine.

It’s not that the Air can’t edit video at all. It can handle some light 1080p or short ProRes clips. But “heavy” means sustained performance, and that’s the Pro’s job.

Get the Pro. Future You deserves exports that finish while you’re still having coffee.