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Why is Apple Rosetta 2 fast? (2022)

(dougallj.wordpress.com)
172 points fanf2 | 2 comments | 19 Nov 24 21:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.466s | source
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emmanueloga_ ◴[20 Nov 24 03:21 UTC] No.42190560[source]▶
Tangent: also why orbstack, a Docker replacement on Mac, is fast [1] (I'm not affiliated in any way, just a fan and happy user :-).

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1: https://docs.orbstack.dev/features

replies(1): >>42197854 #
1. commandersaki ◴[20 Nov 24 20:36 UTC] No.42197854[source]▶
OrbStack doesn't use Rosetta 2. It does support Rosetta 2 for Linux, but it's something you would have to go out of your way to use.
replies(1): >>42199882 #
2. emmanueloga_ ◴[21 Nov 24 00:50 UTC] No.42199882[source]▶
I confess I don't really know the technical details of how they use Rosetta, but according to their docs [1]:

"We use Rosetta to emulate x86 programs on Apple Silicon, which is much faster than the commonly-used QEMU."

What I get is that rosetta is used when you run something on Docker that uses x86 architecture (I'm guessing x86_64), which for me is pretty often.

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1: https://docs.orbstack.dev/architecture#low-level-vm-optimiza...