Max or Ultra for running Linux VM?

[mattmacpro]

It looks like people have been successful running Linux VMs on their Studios and support is only going to get better, and that is what I was waiting on. I currently have a 2020 27" imac with the i7 and use it for hobby development and as my primary computer. Alongside the Mac apps, I also have a Linux VM that I use occasionally for development and building/running open source projects since dependencies are a lot less hassle there. I also have a Windows VM I used a bunch at first but haven't booted in 6 months, so I think I'm fine without it.

I give the VM 4 cores of my i7 on the imac to keep builds at a reasonable time. The M1 Max likewise has 8 performance cores, but the i7 has hyperthreading for its cores while the M1 cores do not. Do I need the Ultra for my use case so I can give the VM 8 cores or will I be okay with the Max and only 4 cores to the VM?

Is anyone else doing something like this? Is there a better place to find folks doing similar stuff?

 

[haralds]

I've had no trouble with 4 cores on Mac Studio or MacBook Pro. You need an ARM64 version of Linux.
Parallels Desktop has done a great job for me in this area.

 

[mattmacpro]

I've had no trouble with 4 cores on Mac Studio or MacBook Pro. You need an ARM64 version of Linux.
Parallels Desktop has done a great job for me in this area.

Thank you for the reply!

I did read about the ARM64 version requirement. Good to know about Parallels. I’ve been using Fusion on the iMac but Parallels or UTM were what the articles I’d seen on the M1 were using for this. I appreciate the advice because not many folks seem to be doing this and details are a little hard to come by. Plus can’t try it out without a M1 or M2 device and I don’t want any of the configurations I could take home from my local store today to play with.

What kind of stuff do you do with your VM if you don’t mind me asking? Also, do you have 32 or 64 gigs of ram? I have 64 on my iMac and most of the time it is overkill, but since the ram can’t be upgraded on the Studio I was thinking about going there to be safe.

 

[hkoster1]

Not all useful scientific software for Linux has been ported to Apple Silicon (arm64) as yet, Chez Scheme comes to mind (although they're working on it). For that reason I've gotten rid of my VMware and Parallels VMs, bought a simple NUC and am using it now as a dedicated Debian GNU/Linux machine. Luckily, I had a decent monitor (LG 4K UltraFine) that became available when I added a Mac Studio display to my Studio Max.