3 ms·

Sounds like this explains why Docker eats thru Mac battery so fast

by miohtama 3y ago

jbverschoor 3y ago
Try orbstack
- mhrmsn 3y ago
  Does it make use of the E cores on Apple Silicon?
  - sgerenser 3y ago
    Since all docker implementations use a VM on Mac, and according to this article VMs only use P-Cores, I have to assume it only uses the P cores.
    - astrange 3y ago
      This article is based on an M1 Max but I think M2 Max behaves differently here since it has more E-cores. Don't quote me though.
  - kdrag0n 3y ago
    (dev here) Yes. I've spent quite a bit of time on scheduling. It's more nuanced than what this article says and there are ways to influence it (but sorry, can't share too many details). OrbStack tends to use E cores more than other virtualization-based apps do on Apple Silicon, especially for heavy workloads.
    - miohtama 3y ago
      Thank you! This is really interesting, will give OrbStack a test drive.
- MrRolleyes 3y ago
  Orbstack still seems to rely on docker's virtualization. We need something better than docker to improve on this.
  - piperswe 3y ago
    Orbstack runs Docker inside its own lightweight VM. It doesn't use any of Docker Desktop's virtualization. I'm not sure if it handles scheduling any better though.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - MrRolleyes 3y ago
      [dead]
amazingman 3y ago
I get 6h or so running quite a few workloads in Kubernetes on Docker For Mac on Apple Silicon. Intel was < 2h. The rest of my team has similar experiences. Are you sure it's Docker causing your battery issues?
- bmurphy1976 3y ago
  Docker is definitely a problem, although newer versions have implemented new functionality that may have significantly reduced this. I can't really tell however, as I'm stuck on too many Zoom calls all day long and Zoom absolutely murders my battery life.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    I haven’t tested it personally but you may be able to get some of that battery life back by using the web version of Zoom in Safari. That tends to force video chat services to use hardware accelerated video codecs which are considerably easier on battery.
    - c0balt 3y ago
      And that's not just for Mac's, the same can help on Linux devices. It's somewhat hilarious that running a non-native app gets you better hardware accel but here we are.
      - doubled112 3y ago
        Maybe the web browser is the OS now. Does that make the OS just a hardware abstraction layer?
        dijit 3y ago
        I think that's generally accepted as true for some classification of people. That's why chromebooks are an idea that was perhaps too early (and hardware too anaemic)
      - 3y ago
wutwutwat 3y ago
Checkout App Tamer[1] to control the priority of processes as well as core assignment on the M series chips: > App Tamer can take special advantage of Apple Silicon powered Macs, which have two different types of processor cores. Use it to automatically run busy background apps on the M1 or M2's efficiency cores to save power, leaving the performance cores for the apps you want to run fastest. 1. https://www.stclairsoft.com/AppTamer/ https://www.stclairsoft.com/AppTamer/

Sounds like this explains why Docker eats thru Mac battery so fast

jbverschoor 3y ago

Try orbstack

mhrmsn 3y ago
Does it make use of the E cores on Apple Silicon?
- sgerenser 3y ago
  Since all docker implementations use a VM on Mac, and according to this article VMs only use P-Cores, I have to assume it only uses the P cores.
  - astrange 3y ago
    This article is based on an M1 Max but I think M2 Max behaves differently here since it has more E-cores. Don't quote me though.
- kdrag0n 3y ago
  (dev here) Yes. I've spent quite a bit of time on scheduling. It's more nuanced than what this article says and there are ways to influence it (but sorry, can't share too many details). OrbStack tends to use E cores more than other virtualization-based apps do on Apple Silicon, especially for heavy workloads.
  - miohtama 3y ago
    Thank you! This is really interesting, will give OrbStack a test drive.
MrRolleyes 3y ago
Orbstack still seems to rely on docker's virtualization. We need something better than docker to improve on this.
- piperswe 3y ago
  Orbstack runs Docker inside its own lightweight VM. It doesn't use any of Docker Desktop's virtualization. I'm not sure if it handles scheduling any better though.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - MrRolleyes 3y ago
    [dead]

amazingman 3y ago

I get 6h or so running quite a few workloads in Kubernetes on Docker For Mac on Apple Silicon. Intel was < 2h. The rest of my team has similar experiences. Are you sure it's Docker causing your battery issues?

bmurphy1976 3y ago
Docker is definitely a problem, although newer versions have implemented new functionality that may have significantly reduced this. I can't really tell however, as I'm stuck on too many Zoom calls all day long and Zoom absolutely murders my battery life.
- jwells89 3y ago
  I haven’t tested it personally but you may be able to get some of that battery life back by using the web version of Zoom in Safari. That tends to force video chat services to use hardware accelerated video codecs which are considerably easier on battery.
  - c0balt 3y ago
    And that's not just for Mac's, the same can help on Linux devices. It's somewhat hilarious that running a non-native app gets you better hardware accel but here we are.
    - doubled112 3y ago
      Maybe the web browser is the OS now. Does that make the OS just a hardware abstraction layer?
      - dijit 3y ago
        I think that's generally accepted as true for some classification of people. That's why chromebooks are an idea that was perhaps too early (and hardware too anaemic)
    - 3y ago

wutwutwat 3y ago

Checkout App Tamer[1] to control the priority of processes as well as core assignment on the M series chips: > App Tamer can take special advantage of Apple Silicon powered Macs, which have two different types of processor cores. Use it to automatically run busy background apps on the M1 or M2's efficiency cores to save power, leaving the performance cores for the apps you want to run fastest. 1. https://www.stclairsoft.com/AppTamer/ https://www.stclairsoft.com/AppTamer/