Mac M1 as dev machine (docker and webpack intensive)

[lukasamd]

Hey! Right now I use MBP 15 2018 with i7 + 16GB + 256GB and it's pretty nice, but docker is slow, very slow. I work on big web app (php + vue + some databases etc) and I/O is slow, also, notebook is just loud when I work with docker + IDE (phpstorm/webstorm) + browser + some tools.

To speed up docker and lighten Mac, I bought small (13"), old, refurbished Dell notebook with 2 cores / 4 threads, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD and use it with Ubuntu as "server machine". I sync all files using mutagen and it works fine, but sometimes have some issues.

Right now thinking about buing something with M1 (or wait for M1X/M2) - Air, Pro, or maybe just Mac Mini, because I have external display (24" 4K), apple keyboard + magic trackpad, so it's also good and cheaper option. The question is: how good is M1 in such tasks? And also, will be 16 GB RAM enough? For MBP is enough, there is no info about low membory, but MBP has Radeon card and when I use external display (4K scaled to 2560x1440px), it uses different memory.

Also, I read that docker for M1 uses different virtualization - what about I/O speed? On normal Macs is terrible slow in comparsion to native docker. Example watcher build times:

- MBP Pro 15 2018: (8gen, 6c/12t): 14-18s (!)
- Dell with old cpu (6gen , 2c/4t) and Ubuntu: 7-8s
- Dell with almost the same CPU as MBP and Ubuntu: 3-4s

 

[bobcomer]

I don't run docker, so I can't answer any part of that, but don't get the Macbook Air, get one with active cooling. Virtualization takes its toll on the MBA and it will run very hot. I use Parallels.

16G should be enough for 1 or two VM's, more if they don't need much RAM. I bought the M1 MBA and really wish I went with the MBP. Now I'm waiting for the next version and my MBA is sitting on the shelf.

 

[senttoschool]

I can answer Webpack.

I was using a 2015 15" MBP. It used to take 60+ seconds to compile the entire app. Now it takes about 25 seconds. It used to take 5 seconds to compile changes. Now it takes 200-500ms.

It changes the way I write code. Now I can save changes and expect to see the results almost instantly instead of waiting 5 seconds every time.

Be sure to install the latest version of Node.js (16.5.0) as it supports Apple Silicon natively.

Run

node -p "process.arch"

to check. It should say arm64.

 

[lukasamd]

@senttoschool do you use node inside docker container, or native node for example from brew / installed from website?
It makes big difference. I worked with native services year ago and it was fine, but inside container, it's different thing.

 

[senttoschool]

@senttoschool do you use node inside docker container, or native node for example from brew / installed from website?
It makes big difference. I worked with native services year ago and it was fine, but inside container, it's different thing.

I use it from brew. I don't currently use docker.

 

[pshufd]

I used Docker a lot a few weeks ago on an x86 desktop and no complaints. It sounds like you're asking a lot from a laptop running heavy VM workloads. It's a breeze on a desktop with lots of RAM and multiple SSDs.

 

[jdb8167]

Hey! Right now I use MBP 15 2018 with i7 + 16GB + 256GB and it's pretty nice, but docker is slow, very slow. I work on big web app (php + vue + some databases etc) and I/O is slow, also, notebook is just loud when I work with docker + IDE (phpstorm/webstorm) + browser + some tools.

To speed up docker and lighten Mac, I bought small (13"), old, refurbished Dell notebook with 2 cores / 4 threads, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD and use it with Ubuntu as "server machine". I sync all files using mutagen and it works fine, but sometimes have some issues.

Right now thinking about buing something with M1 (or wait for M1X/M2) - Air, Pro, or maybe just Mac Mini, because I have external display (24" 4K), apple keyboard + magic trackpad, so it's also good and cheaper option. The question is: how good is M1 in such tasks? And also, will be 16 GB RAM enough? For MBP is enough, there is no info about low membory, but MBP has Radeon card and when I use external display (4K scaled to 2560x1440px), it uses different memory.

Also, I read that docker for M1 uses different virtualization - what about I/O speed? On normal Macs is terrible slow in comparsion to native docker. Example watcher build times:

- MBP Pro 15 2018: (8gen, 6c/12t): 14-18s (!)
- Dell with old cpu (6gen , 2c/4t) and Ubuntu: 7-8s
- Dell with almost the same CPU as MBP and Ubuntu: 3-4s

I did a limited amount of performance testing on M1 Docker and saw approximately the same performance between native M1 and Docker (Linux VM). The Apple silicon compatible Docker is using Apple’s hypervisor framework. What was x86 Docker using?

 

[lukasamd]

@pshufd Yeah, I need something like desktop replacement.

@jdb8167 oo nice to hear! Docker for Mac x86 uses hyperkit or also new hypervisor framework if you decided to enable it (it's experimental function). What tests did you do?

 

[jdb8167]

@pshufd Yeah, I need something like desktop replacement.

@jdb8167 oo nice to hear! Docker for Mac x86 uses hyperkit or also new hypervisor framework if you decided to enable it (it's experimental function). What tests did you do?

I wanted something quick that would run in MacOS and Linux so I used some of the openssl cipher benchmarks. I posted the results on these forums. I’ll update this when I track the post down.

Edit: This post has my quick and dirty test.

 

[lukasamd]

@jdb8167 look pretty nice! Do you know anything about I/O performance on docker on M1?

 

[jdb8167]

@jdb8167 look pretty nice! Do you know anything about I/O performance on docker on M1?

I played around with Unix dd utility but I didn’t do any comprehensive testing. And at the time, Docker was having problems with network addresses so I couldn’t test network IO. I should look into it again.