Hey everyone, I'm running a single Docker container for the Pi-Network, but I've noticed that Docker itself is consuming nearly 9GB of my memory according to Activity Monitor. My container claims it's only using 475MB, and I have Docker configured to limit its usage to 6GB. Restarting Docker temporarily fixes the problem for a few days, but then it returns. Since I'm currently using a MacBook Pro M4 with 48GB of RAM, it's manageable, but soon I'll be switching to a machine with only 24GB. I really want to keep this container running without frequent restarts. Has anyone faced similar issues or found a solution to keep Docker's memory use under control? I've turned resource saver on and off, increased the swap to 4GB, and made sure all my software updates are current. Any tips would be appreciated!
3 Answers
Yeah, it’s really frustrating that Docker Desktop uses so much RAM on Mac. Switching to Orbstack sounds like a smart move; I’ve heard good things about it.
Docker on Mac does indeed require a virtual machine, which has its own memory overhead. If it’s consistently using that much memory, it might be worth checking out alternatives like Orbstack or Colima. They integrate better with the system and are designed to be less resource-intensive than Docker Desktop.
If you don't mind running a Linux VM, that could also be a way to save on resources. Setting up Docker on a lightweight Linux machine can significantly reduce memory usage compared to Docker Desktop on Mac.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll look into Orbstack and see if it helps with the memory usage.