Docker is currently using qemu for x86-64 to arm translation so when I use it with an x86-64 container I only get 2-3 hours out of it, and the performance is atrocious bc of how slow qemu is. With arm64 containers I tend to get 5-8 hours even with cpu intensive tasks going most of the time.

I expect either qemu to get better or for apple to add some things to improve running x86-64 VMs. Rosetta 2's JIT portion (some of R2 is AOT) is worlds ahead of qemu's in terms of performance. So, the battery life and performance difference won't be forever.

Thankfully, building arm64 images for most containers I've used is pretty straightforward.

Docker is pretty bad. I also work out on the patio pretty often, cranking up the screen brightness will also give it a hit.

But still unimaginably better than the Intel notebooks. With Docker and the brightness up I'll get a measly 6.5 hours instead of the solid ten or so I get otherwise.