Is the Apple M1‑chip good for video editing?

I don't think Luis has an M1. I have the 13" MBP. In my export tests, the M1 was slightly faster than my 2019 16" MBP, except in one case. 10-bit HEVC, in which the Intel is quite slow, the M1 was more than twice as fast. The editing is very smooth; the application, which is tuned for Apple Silicon, is very responsive. The machine is very quiet, the fans hardly ever run up. The battery is amazing. The best battery I've ever had in a MBP. True, I've never had a 13" before, so the screen is taking less power. It's a great machine. I just wish the screen was bigger. I find it constrained for FCP. The minis I'm sure have the same performance or better. If you want a laptop, I'd wait for later in the year. Otherwise, a mini would be great, probably the iMac too, but I think they're ugly, and the colors are just not something you want around video editing software.

There have been a couple threads here, or at least mentions in them, that the people with M1 machines have been very pleased with FCP performance. I believe Luis and Tom, who are both expertly proficient and helpful FCP users here, have M1 machines and will likely chime in with their experience.

I do not have an M1. I expect to have an Apple Silicon mac sometime in the near future (an M1 or whatever comes next), but for now I am working with my 16" MBP, which is just over a year old.

In terms of performance, it appears that the M1 MBP matches or exceeds the 16" in most cases, with two big advantages: battery life is amazing, and.... silence. One thing I dislike about my 16" is that with any heavy use the fans run like crazy. I would love the silence and the cool temperature of the M1.

Regarding the screen: I think I would find it small, too, but then I almost always have my mac connected to an external display, and that may help.

To note: the M1 MBP officially supports only one external display.

The screen is small for FCP in my view.