Guest slow on Mac host

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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pcapoti1985
Posts: 4
Joined: 9. Mar 2020, 10:30

Guest slow on Mac host

Post by pcapoti1985 »

Hello! I have a problem with Virtualbox. The guest (Windows or Ubuntu) are very slow. I have a iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) 2019 with 3 GHz Intel Core i5 6 core 8 GB 2667 MHz DDR4 Radeon Pro 560X 4 GB.

Could someone help me?
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Guest slow on Mac host

Post by scottgus1 »

Moved to Mac Hosts as the problem is with Windows and Ubuntu VMs, meaning it's probably a host issue.

For slow VMs on a Retina Mac, try running Virtualbox in low resolution:
solution by '63BottlesOfBeer' and 'sigismund'
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=90446&start=75#p470879
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91864&p=491209#p491209
1. Navigate to Apps folder. Choose VirtualBox.app
2. Right click on VirtualBox.app, Show Package Contents.
3. Contents -> Resources -> VirtualBoxVM.app (right click -> Get info)
4. Check the "Open in Low Resolution" checkbox.
5. Run the Virtual Machine in 100% scale mode.
Zappo
Posts: 1
Joined: 21. Apr 2021, 15:53

Re: Guest slow on Mac host

Post by Zappo »

Thank you for that hint, it makes it a little better, but FAR from the speed of the 5.x versions.

I've tried the V.6 a couple of times with macOS Catalina and older and it was always incredible slow, but since macOS Big Sur I was forced to move to V.6 and it's almost impossible to work with Win 7 as guest.

V.5 was so nimble, V.6 feels like handbrake applied... what happened here?
pcapoti1985
Posts: 4
Joined: 9. Mar 2020, 10:30

Re: Guest slow on Mac host

Post by pcapoti1985 »

scottgus1 wrote:Moved to Mac Hosts as the problem is with Windows and Ubuntu VMs, meaning it's probably a host issue.

For slow VMs on a Retina Mac, try running Virtualbox in low resolution:
solution by '63BottlesOfBeer' and 'sigismund'
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=90446&start=75#p470879
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91864&p=491209#p491209
1. Navigate to Apps folder. Choose VirtualBox.app
2. Right click on VirtualBox.app, Show Package Contents.
3. Contents -> Resources -> VirtualBoxVM.app (right click -> Get info)
4. Check the "Open in Low Resolution" checkbox.
5. Run the Virtual Machine in 100% scale mode.
I have done it... but it is so small that i can't see anything and the resolution is 2560x1600 (16:10) and it is slow.
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