If you want to buy an Apple M4 MacBook Air for lightweight, portable 4K video editing, I’ve got three recommendations for you at three different price points: a budget option, a best bang for your buck option, and an extremely powerful beastly option that will handle a huge variety of the videos you need to edit.

Budget Video Editing M4 Macbook Air

If you want a powerful M4 MacBook Air that can edit 4K video very well while also happening to be one of the cheapest laptops Apple makes, this recommendation is an easy one. The base M4 MacBook Air retails for just $1,000, and you can find it at Amazon or B&H.

With it you’re getting Apple’s latest processor, which is a nice jump in power over previous years, partially due to Apple upgrading their media encoder and decoder with the M4 series. That makes editing and rendering videos even faster, which is exactly what you care about.

And here’s the thing I’m genuinely happy about. Apple is finally shipping these laptops with 16GB of RAM minimum. If you remember any of my previous buyer’s guides, the older MacBook Air started at 8GB and I was always telling you to upgrade to at least 16 for video editing. Now we’re at 16GB as the floor at the same price, which is fantastic to see.

Overall this is quite a powerful laptop in a very small size, and I think you’re going to be very happy with it.

That said, if you want to save even more, be aware that Apple has an educational discount that brings this down to about $899, and you may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere too.

And if you’re really just looking for something ultra small to copy footage onto and do some very light editing with, look at refurbished models from previous generations. Walmart still has a deal with Apple selling the M1 MacBook Air brand new for around $650, which to be clear is three generations old now, and there are plenty of refurbished ones out there for under $500. If you can’t afford the M4, those are still worth considering.

Best Bang For Your Buck Video Editing M4 Macbook Air

This one also happens to be the exact MacBook Air I bought myself. Yes, I put my money where my mouth is with this buyer’s guide, and I’ve been using it for weeks and absolutely loving it.

There are two small upgrades that make a big difference in the usability of this laptop, and really it’s one purchase. Go from 256GB of internal storage up to 512GB. That gives you more room for your programs plus space to actually edit a few video projects.

But here’s the part people miss. Whenever you choose the 512GB upgrade, Apple also bumps the chip from a 10 core CPU with an 8 core GPU up to a 10 core CPU with a 10 core GPU. So for $200 you’re not only doubling your storage, you’re getting a bump in chip power as well. That feels like a really good upgrade to me.

If you find yourself needing more space down the line, just buy an external SSD rather than paying Apple’s storage prices.

So for around $1,200, that’s the best bang for your buck MacBook Air I recommend, and it’s at Amazon and B&H. That’s the one I’ve been using and I’m extremely happy with it. Don’t stress, just get this one.

Beastly Video Editing M4 Macbook Air

Now I’m sure some of you are saying, Matt, I have more of a budget, is there anything more powerful? This is where things get a bit more complicated.

You could bump the RAM up to 24GB or 32GB, or you could increase the SSD from 512GB to 1TB, which is honestly something I’ve heavily considered doing since I’ve found myself editing a lot on this laptop while traveling.

But here’s the issue you run into once you spend more than about $1,200 on this machine. Any upgrade from Apple costs you at minimum another $200.

So let’s say you opt for 24GB of RAM, or 1TB of storage. You’re now at around $1,400. And you need to be very aware that I’ve seen the base 14 inch M4 MacBook Pro on sale for as low as $1,400 new (Amazon, B&H), or even cheaper refurbished. With that you’re getting a slightly bigger screen, a fan, and overall better performance for video editing.

So yes, I know this is a MacBook Air buyer’s guide. But if you’re someone who’s only buying an Air because it’s affordable, rather than because you specifically want an ultra small and portable laptop, my beastly recommendation is to look around and see whether you can get into a 14 inch MacBook Pro with the base processor, RAM, and storage for not much more money.

If that’s the direction you’re leaning, I’ve put together a separate MacBook Pro buyer’s guide to help you work through that decision, and if you’re shopping the current generation instead, start with my Video Editing M5 MacBook Buyer’s Guide.

And if the sticker price is the thing stopping you, Get Upgraded lets you buy a MacBook the way you buy an iPhone, paying monthly with a trade up every two years and AppleCare included, starting at about $33. They are not sponsoring this, I am an affiliate of theirs.

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Whichever one you land on, I’d also love to help you get faster at the editing itself. My Edit Videos Like A Pro guide covers the most important things it took me years to learn as a video editor, and it’ll help regardless of which software you use. It’s completely free.