How fast is a macOS VM, and how small could it be?
4 hours ago
- #performance
- #macOS
- #virtualisation
- Performance of macOS virtualisation on Apple silicon is reviewed with updated figures.
- VM with 5 virtual cores and 16 GB RAM achieves CPU single-core performance at 98% of host speed.
- GPU performance in VM is 95% of host, but neural engine performance is significantly slower.
- VM can run on minimal resources: 2 virtual cores and 4 GB RAM for lightweight tasks.
- VM size should be at least 60 GB for updates, but APFS sparse files help reduce disk usage.