MacBook 12" capabilities

[feeney]

I have vmware fusion 8.5 pro, and I'd like to know if the MacBook 12" is capable of running it. Currently I'm running a MacBook Air 11" with 4Gb and it's showing it's age! so looking to upgrade.

As the MacBook Air 11" is discontinued, it's not an option as a 13" doesn't fit onto the airplane fold down tray to work off.

[abhilashhb]

Fusion support is based on mac os not the model.

Here are the supported operating supported : Supported host operating systems for VMware Fusion 8.x and VMware Fusion Pro 8.x (2129865) | VMware ...

[Mikero]

It runs on the 12", but the CPU is incredibly underpowered.

The fast storage is the only thing that makes it bearable, but even then the CPU is REALLY anemic. I definitely can't endorse this MacBook if you're regularly doing virtualization.

If they released another model with a faster CPU it might be more bearable, but as is the CPU is a huge bottleneck on this hardware.

[ColoradoMarmot]

I'll second that - it's a grossly underpowered machine for anything other than web browsing, and challenge part of the original premise - a 13" fits very nicely on airplane trays.

[gordycoale]

It's worth noting that the i5 and i7 processors in the July 2017 Macbook 12" refresh are much more capable than those in the 2015/16 model.  On benchmarks at least they outpace the older Macbbok airs like yours.  The i5 model also out performs the remaining i5 13" MBA presumably because the 12" turbo boosts higher and is 2 CPU generations newer.  You can compare them on everymac.

The 12 isn't going to come close to the 13 pro but it should be good for some light vm'ing.  It's also cheaper to spec to 16gb than the Pro.

TL:Dr if the rest of your needs work for the 12" it's worth a punt.