Yes, I had an M1 air 8gb and didn’t have a single issue editing in 4k (fuji xt4 and iphone files). But for that price you might as well consider the 14" M1 Pro (better screen, more powerful, more storage/ram, more ports, better speakers and more external screens supported).
Aldente, it will save your battery health
Yes, it will be significantly better (even the 8gb is still really good). For the built quality/rigidity apple stays the best. The battery life is impressive, the screen is amazing, the trackpad is so much more comfortable to use compared to windows laptops. Overall everything’s better, just use it as much as possible plugged in with the app Aldente (and make sure that the battery is not charging) to preserve the battery life.
The built-in screen recorder is pretty good (if you want to record the internal sound you can download the app blackhole by existential audio there are vids on ytb), or a simpler and reliable other way : obs studio which is free
Y E S !!!
Use your mac as much as possible plugged with the app Aldente and make sure that the battery isn’t charging