Docker is committed to delivering the most efficient and high-performing container development toolset in the market, so we continue to advance our technology to exceed customer expectations. With the latest version 4.22 release, Docker Desktop has undergone significant optimizations, making it streamlined, lightweight, and faster than ever. Not only does this new version offer enhanced performance, but it also contributes to a more environmentally friendly approach, saving energy and reducing resource consumption on local machines:

• Network speeds from 3.5 Gbit/sec to 19 Gbit/sec — a 443% improvement
• Filesystem improvements that yield 60% faster builds
• Enhanced active memory usage from 4GB to 2GB — a 2x improvement
• Resource Saver mode — automatically reduces CPU and memory utilization by 10x

Discover how our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences for our developer community and customers shines through in the latest updates to Docker Desktop.

4.19: Networking stack — turbocharging container connectivity

The Docker Desktop 4.19 release brought a substantial boost to Docker Desktop’s networking stack, the technology used by containers to access the internet. This upgrade significantly enhances networking performance, which is particularly beneficial for tasks like docker builds, which often involve downloading and installing numerous packages. 

Benchmark tests using iperf3 on a first-generation M1 Mac Mini demonstrated remarkable progress. The previous unoptimized network stack managed around 3.5 Gbit/sec, whereas the current default networking stack in 4.19+ achieves an impressive 19 Gbit/sec on the same machine. This optimization translates to faster build times and smoother container operations.

4.21: Optimized CPU, memory, and filesharing performance

Docker Desktop 4.21 introduced the first version of what is now a game-changing feature, Resource Saver, which automatically reduces CPU. This intelligent mode detects when Docker Desktop is not running containers and automatically reduces CPU consumption, ensuring that developers can keep the application running in the background without compromising battery life or dealing with noisy laptop fans. Across all Docker Desktop users on 4.21, this innovative feature has saved up to 38,500 CPU hours every day, making it a true productivity booster.

Furthermore, Docker Desktop 4.21 significantly enhanced its active memory usage, slashing it from approximately 4GB to around 2GB — a remarkable 2x advancement. This empowers developers to seamlessly juggle multiple applications alongside Docker Desktop, resulting in an elevated and smoother user experience.

Additionally, Docker Desktop now utilizes VirtioFS on macOS 12.5+ to deliver substantial performance gains when sharing files with containers through docker run -v. Notably, the time needed for a clean (non-incremental) build of redis/redis checked out on the host has been reduced by more than half over recent releases resulting in ~60% faster builds, further solidifying Docker Desktop’s reputation as an indispensable development tool.

4.22: Heightened efficiency — dramatically reducing memory utilization when idle

Now, with the release of Docker Desktop 4.22, we’re excited to announce that  Docker Desktop’s newest performance enhancement feature, Resource Saver, supports automatic low memory mode for Mac, Windows, and Linux. This addition detects when Docker Desktop is not running containers and dramatically reduces its memory footprint by 10x, freeing up valuable resources on developers’ machines for other tasks and minimizing the risk of lag when navigating across different applications. Memory allocation can now be quick and efficient, resulting in a seamless and performant development experience.

But don’t just take it from us. In “What is Resource Saver Mode in Docker Desktop and what problem does it solve?” Ajeet Raina explains how the new Resource Saver feature optimizes efficiency, enhances performance, and simplifies the development workflow.

Conclusion

Docker Desktop continues to evolve. The latest enhancements in version 4.22, combined with the resource-saving features introduced in 4.21 and 4.19, have made Docker Desktop a lighter, faster, and more environmentally friendly solution for developers. 

By optimizing resource usage and maximizing performance, Docker Desktop enables developers to build and release applications faster while being conscious of their environmental impact. As Docker continues to innovate and fine-tune its offerings, developers can expect even greater strides toward a more efficient and productive development experience.

Download or update to the newest version of Docker Desktop today to start saving time and take advantage of these new advancements.

Learn more

• Get the latest release of Docker Desktop.
• Vote on what’s next! Check out our public roadmap.
• Have questions? The Docker community is here to help.
• New to Docker? Get started.

Docker Desktop 4.21 is now available and includes Docker Init support for Rust, new Wasm runtimes support, enhancements to Docker Scout dashboards, Builds view (Beta), performance and filesystem enhancements to Docker Desktop on macOS, and more. Docker Desktop in 4.21 also uses substantially less memory, allowing developers to run more applications simultaneously on their machines without relying on swap. 

Added support for new Wasm runtimes

Docker Desktop 4.21 now has added support for the following Wasm runtimes: Slight, Spin, and Wasmtime. These runtimes can be downloaded on demand when the containerd image store is enabled. The following steps outline the process:

1. In Docker Desktop, navigate to the settings by clicking the gear icon.
2. Select the Features in development tab.
3. Check the boxes for Use containerd for pulling and storing images and Enable Wasm.
4. Select Apply & restart.
5. When prompted for Wasm Runtimes Installation, select Install.
6. After installation, these runtimes can be used to run Wasm workloads locally with the corresponding flags, for example:
   --runtime=io.containerd.spin.v1 --platform=wasi/wasm32

Docker Init (Beta) added support for Rust 

In the 4.21 release, we’ve added Rust server support to Docker Init. Docker Init is a CLI command in beta that simplifies the process of adding Docker to a project. (Learn more about Docker Init in our blog post: Docker Init: Initialize Dockerfiles and Compose files with a single CLI command.)

You can try Docker Init with Rust by updating to the latest version of Docker Desktop and typing docker init in the command line while inside a target project folder. 

The Docker team is working on adding more languages and frameworks for this command, including Java and .Net. Let us know if you want us to support a specific language or framework. We welcome feedback as we continue to develop and improve Docker Init (Beta).

Docker Scout dashboard enhancements 

The Docker Scout Dashboard helps you share the analysis of images in an organization with your team. Developers can now see an overview of their security status across all their images from both Docker Hub and Artifactory (more registry integrations coming soon) and get remediation advice at their fingertips. Docker Scout analysis helps team members in roles such as security, compliance, and operations to know what vulnerabilities and issues they need to focus on.

Visit the Docker Scout vulnerability dashboard to get end-to-end observability into your supply chain. 

Docker Buildx v0.11

Docker Buildx component has been updated to a new version, enabling many new features. For example, you can now load multi-platform images into the Docker image store when containerd image store is enabled.

The buildx bake command now supports matrix builds, allowing defining multiple configurations of the same build target that can all be built together.

There are also multiple new experimental commands for better debugging support for your builds. Read more from the release changelog. 

Builds (Beta)

Docker Desktop 4.21 includes our Builds view beta release. Builds view gives you visibility into the active builds currently running on your system and enables analysis and debugging of your completed builds.

All builds started with docker build or docker buildx build commands will automatically appear in the Builds view. From there, you can inspect all the properties of a build invocation, including timing information, build cache usage, Dockerfile source, etc. Builds view also provides you full access to all of the logs and properties of individual build steps.

If you are working with multiple Buildx builder instances (for example, running builds inside a Docker container or Kubernetes cluster), Builds view include a new Builders settings view to make it even easier to manage additional builders or set default builder instances.

Builds view is currently in beta as we are continuing to improve them. To enable them, go to Settings > Features in development > Turn on Builds view.

Faster startup and file sharing for macOS 

Launching Docker Desktop on Apple Silicon Macs is at least 25% quicker in 4.21 compared to previous Docker Desktop versions. Previously the start time would scale linearly with the amount of memory allocated to Docker, which meant that users with higher-spec Macs would experience slower startup. This bug has been fixed and now Docker starts in four seconds on Apple Silicon. 

Docker Desktop 4.21 uses VirtioFS by default on macOS 12.5+, which provides substantial performance gains when sharing host files with containers (for example, via docker run -v). The time taken to build the Redis engine drops from seven minutes on Docker Desktop 4.20 to only two minutes on Docker Desktop 4.21, for example.

Conclusion

Upgrade now to explore what’s new in the 4.21 release of Docker Desktop. Do you have feedback? Leave feedback on our public GitHub roadmap and let us know what else you’d like to see.

Learn more

• Get the latest release of Docker Desktop.
• Have questions? The Docker community is here to help.
• New to Docker? Get started.