2018 MBA For Virtual Machines?

[HonestChicken]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to purchase a 2018 MBA w/ 16GB and 512GB but don't know if it is powerful enough for my use.

I would need to run multiple virtual machines (2 at least - one Windows, one Linux) at the same time.

Applications that I use:
Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle MySQL, Anaconda(Python), Pycharm, Microsoft Visual Studio.

I don't do any video editing or photo editing.

The reason I'm asking is that I really like the tapered design of the Air, so it would be great if it is powerful enough (and smooth) for what I need it for.

 

[nartycrem]

For what it's worth, I'm on a 2018 MBA 8 GB / 256 SSD and I run a Windows 10 VM for SPSS, R, and Mplus. I crunch data with 3000 cases and 100-200 variables, with 5-7 Safari tabs, Word, PowerPoint, and sometimes Chrome in the background. I don't experience any lag (or a huge dip in battery, for that matter). I'm guessing that if 1 VM runs fine on 8 gb (with all the Mac apps open in the background), then 2 VMs should be okay with 16 gb.

 

[Steve121178]

Absolutely not. Especially as you want to run 2 VM's alongside the host.

If you like the design of the Air, then the Dell XPS 13 and Surface Laptop are in the same ballpark with design & are vastly more suitable for what you want to do. The Air is a terrible choice thanks to it's weak Y-series CPU.

 

[jinnyman]

You know. I used to run VM on my core2duo MacBook Pro back then, and it was perfectly useable. I'm not sure, but I believe MBA 2018 is faster than my previous core2duo. so I guess you will be able to run it.

Would I want to do that now on MBA 2018 with 7W CPU, 2core 4thread, and the one without heat pipe? I would not.
Why you bother to consider MBA with that spec? I would rather purchase MBP 13". If esc and function keys are your primary reason behind your choice, then I would understand your pain.

 

[HonestChicken]

You know. I used to run VM on my core2duo MacBook Pro back then, and it was perfectly useable. I'm not sure, but I believe MBA 2018 is faster than my previous core2duo. so I guess you will be able to run it.

Would I want to do that now on MBA 2018 with 7W CPU, 2core 4thread, and the one without heat pipe? I would not.
Why you bother to consider MBA with that spec? I would rather purchase MBP 13". If esc and function keys are your primary reason behind your choice, then I would understand your pain.

Yes, I actually like the function key way more than than the touch bar, I have looked at the MBP with function key. But unfortunately Apple didn’t update it to gen 8 quad-core which sucks because it seems like they do that on purpose to obsolete the function key version.