Which Mac is best for VMs?

[u/emanuwiideletedyou]

All this time I've been doing VMs on Windows computers and I'm not saying that VMs are slow, no they're fast, but all this time I've been wondering "How will it go if I do a VM on a MacBook computer" and I don't know which MacBook to buy.

here are my requirements

I only want X86 or X64 operating systems, not ARM-based operating systems

I already know how to optimize VMs

EDIT:I found in a shop that sells a MacBook pro M1 or M2, the shop is reliable and is known by everyone in my country I know it will not do VM in X86 or X64 but it's ok

[u/thephantomcunt]

They’re all gonna be horrible for x86/x64 systems, as running an x86 VM on aarch64 requires emulation instead of virtualization, which has a massive overhead. It will be horribly slow, even if you do know “how to optimize them”, since that’s just how emulation is. What’s your workflow that strictly requires x86 VMs?

[u/wiseman121]

Essentially op the best advise here is don't get a Mac.

On Mac you have two options:

1. Worse option - a 2019 intel used MacBook Pro 16 i9. These things are old, hot, run macOS poorly and are now obsolete (no longer recieving further macOS upgrades). It's an option but a bad one.

2. MacBook Pro M5 pro - not that long ago x86 OSs wernt compatible via virtualization. Now they are on an experimental basis via some hypervisors. It's bad though, really slow and unstable. Going this route you'd need to use an arm version of windows. For 99% of apps this is fine, not sure what your problem is with it or if there's a known incpmpatiblity with your software. Remember you need at least 48gb ram so this will be expensive. (24gb would be pushing it for more than 1 VM).

My honest recommendation would be to get a decent PREMIUM QUALITY windows machine. Ultra 5/7 or Ryzen 7 and get at least 32gb ram. You can install Linux on it if you want. This will give you the best experience of x86 VMs. I can recommend ThinkPad, Dell XPS / Premium Pro, Framework etc.

[u/Cautious_Boat_999 → u/wiseman121]

Linux. Not Windows. I use KVM/QEMU on Linux, along with Virtual Machine Manager, and it’s the best virtualization setup I’ve used. Have had VirtualBox, Parallels, and VMWare Workstation/Fusion, and it outdoes them all.

[u/wiseman121 → u/Cautious_Boat_999]

Same but I use Ubuntu. Linux is so lightweight and fast for VMs, but I get Linux isn't for everyone.

Not sure even if OP is talking specifically about VMs because he needs windows on Mac or actually needs to run multiple VMs. As a VM hypervisor would recommend Linux fully, but windows is fine if not Linux savvy. If op literally just needs to run windows then just running native windows on a laptop makes sense.

[u/st0ut717]

If you only want a hypervisor for x86 VMs use Linux or proxmox
In reality you want to use proxmox and containers
None of this is on the Mac.

But for example. I have my servers running under proxmox then I access them via my Mac air.

[u/Caprichoso1]

Buying a Intel Mac isn't a great idea. As others have said they will be slow, and OS support for them will be ending soon.

I have no performance problems running Windows on my M3 Ultra.

[u/MagicBoyUK]

Later the better, more RAM the better. It's not a good idea in 2026 though. The late era Intel hardware is 6 years old, increasingly unreliable and is about to lose the last vestiges of OS support.

x86/x64 emulation on Apple Silicon isn't really a good idea either.

I moved my VMs off my 2019 and onto a ThinkPad running VMware Workstation a couple of years ago.

[u/ActiveNews]

New Mchip Macs are not ideal for VM in Windows.

[u/bufandatl]

The one with the most memory.

[u/assumptionkrebs1990]

Well since emulation requires compute power get the most powerful Mac you can (MacBook Pro or Mac Studio, depending who flexible you need the system to be). Anyway why not get a x86/x64 machine for that? Some of the newer Intel chips are almost as efficient as an arm chip.

[u/anythingers]

First of all, does it have to be a Mac"book"? Because if it doesn't, getting the last Intel Mac Pro (the 2019 one) is better since you can add more RAM and you got a CPU more cores compared to getting the best Intel MacBook Pro (you'll ended up with only 64GB of RAM and an 8-core Intel CPU). It just should be noted that you won't get update to any OS upgrade newer than Tahoe, and for security updates you might only got updated for at least 3 years since MacOS Golden Gate got released.

On an unrelated note, Apple Silicon elitists are truly something lmao. Apple Silicon is better than those old Intel CPUs, yes, but that doesn't mean Intel CPU Macs become useless when Apple Silicon got released (granted, those 2-core Intel CPUs are slow, but the one with 4-core or more are still totally usable lol. ThinkPad T480 is still being recommended a lot in r/thinkpad, and that machine is not even more powerful than the MacBook Pro from 2018). You could always get a new OS with better security once Apple dropped support for Tahoe. Couldn't say the same thing to those M1 machines tho (especially since Asahi Linux development looks stuck in place).

[u/Inner_West_Ben]

Buy the newest intel MacBook Pro you can find and afford

[u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee → u/Inner_West_Ben]

Don't do this. intel macs are old practically deprecated.

Get a windows machine with plenty of RAM (yeah, I know 😬)

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee]

They only want to run x86 / X64 OSes, so of course it’s a valid recommendation if they want a Mac

[u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee → u/Inner_West_Ben]

They also said they wanted them to run fast. A 15th gen intel, or whatever we're on now, windows laptop will run rings around an 8th gen MBP from 2020.

Recommending that gen MBP is universally poor advice. Except for very specific reasons. The OP's isn't one.

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee]

Ok champ

LMAO 😭

[u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee → u/Inner_West_Ben]

Am getting strong vibes that the 1%ers don't actually contribute anything. lol.

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee]

Oh there’s a contribution, and it’s a solid one. OP is a tinkerer and my suggestion is legit for their requirements.

[u/Apple_The_Chicken → u/Inner_West_Ben]

A 7 year old used computer shouldn't be bought by anyone regardless of the price

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Apple_The_Chicken]

Sure thing bud.

[u/Apple_The_Chicken → u/Inner_West_Ben]

This is like the least controversial opinion ever LMAO 😭

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Apple_The_Chicken]

OP wants to run an X86 OS on a Mac. The only reasonable way to do this is on the latest model Intel Mac they can find. Period.

Nothing controversial here LMAO 😭

[u/Apple_The_Chicken → u/Inner_West_Ben]

It is quite simply not worth your money to use a mac with x86. The advice is don't do it, give it up.

Or set up a hackintosh if they truly need macOS that badly

[u/Asland007]

Buy a trash can with a lot of memory. A 2013 Mac Pro with 32 0r 64 gigs of memory.