Typically, use single thread without issue. Last time, I tried multi-thread, it didn’t work. Typically use VCV in native mode, single thread is enough for my patches.
As others have said above, the new Mac’s with Apple Silicon (ARM) since 2020 are killing it and I highly recommend it. If you insist on Windows I’d highly recommend a desktop PC, with a descrete graphics card and good cooling, a so called “gaming PC”. If you insist on Windows + laptop (the worst of all worlds) you should get a so called “gaming laptop”, with discrete GPU. It will cost you a bit more than some crap but you’ll regret it otherwise. It will also be good for general development. Maybe we can get @Omri_Cohen to weigh in on what he bought. I know he got a Windows gaming laptop for running Rack.
Any experiences with Linux on a laptop here?
Haven’t tried Linux, but I’m on a gaming laptop from 2020 (Dell G7, i7 CPU) which is still working OK. For beefier patches I have an i9 desktop, which runs a lot more modules. The biggest annoyance for me on Wintel is fan noise and battery life, which is down to less than an hour using VCV without mains juice. The battery is obviously worn out, but a new one is £130 so I’ll probably just buy a new laptop next year. I’ve never liked Apple, but honestly that seems the way to go at the moment. Chip makers are hyping AI and graphics, not single core performance which is still the most important factor for us.
I’m not sure where the sweet spot is with Macbooks, for example Is it worth waiting for M4, or if M2/3 have much advantage over the M1 for VCV? I need to do some research and work out a budget (roughly £0 at the moment tbh) 
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Using an M1 Macbook Pro. It works nice, to the extend VCV allows it.
I just feel like VCV’s multithreading needs to be “fixed” or updated, so it actually handles multiple cores properly.
I think that would really benefit everyone and we can make the most of the computers we already have, when using VCV. That’s where the real issue lies, IMO, we all have pretty powerful computers now a days, we just can’t use them fully with VCV.
I really think that is one of the biggest oversights in VCV. This is mostly for patching, of course.
Personally, either your CPU architecture handles multithreading well, or something is wrong. The old AMD processors had multiple dies in the cpu, and communication between threads on different dies is slower than access inside a single die.
I dont know where the Apple chips fall down. But Rack isn’t a special case.
And I thought they’d fixed the threading model. It used to have every thread busy wait for work. Didnt they fix that?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with Apple’s multi threading in general. It works more than fine in many other complex apps, like Logic for example.
Don’t know anything about that.
All I can see is that when you change the setting to use more than one thread, it performs worse than when using one thread. I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work. We have so many processors these days, it just feels like a waste, only being able to use one of them properly.
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No need to wait, buy the one that’s right for your budget and needs.
My vague sense is that it’s somewhat inherent in the architecture of Rack. If it did block procesing it would be a lot easier with multithreading, like a DAW, but then you loose the feedback patching.
They don’t. They have very good multithreading and excellent single thread performance, which matters most to Rack.
It’s the same on all platforms for Rack. See above. I think it’s inherent in Rack’s design.
Realistically, and especially for laptops, the limiting factor is cooling, not how many threads you can use. That’s the real “secret sauce” of Apple Silicon - they’re so damn effective == runs so much cooler.
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That makes sense
Yes I know, it has nothing to do with Apples multi threading, IMO 
I agree, they are really good. This 2020 M1 Macbook I have is definitely the best laptop I ever had. Fan rarely spins. Though I have to mention the Touch Bar. Mine started failing, JUST after the 2 years had past, so I can’t get it fixed via warranty. I see a lot of other people has the same issue online, but Apple doesn’t seem to recognise it. This bothers me a bit, cause I am not sure when the Touch Bar fails completely, if I will be able to use the computer at all. I’ve read that some people with same issue, that their computer just stopped working once the Touch Bar failed. Others says it works fine, even after it failed completely. Not sure where I will end up.
Next time I will get one without the Touch Bar, it’s just another point of failure I don’t need
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yes, i use ubuntu studio 24.04. switched from fedora, because there was a bad audio experience with pipewire. always crackling. the jack emulation also was not easy with fedora. pure jack on fedora is complicated. therefore i switched and pipewire works much better. the repos contains all stuff that i want. currently satisfied.
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is touchbar = touchpad?
Touchbar is the thing on top.where F keys are. Most MacBook Pros have them. I dislike it immensely, which I prefer an Air. No fan, no touch bar.
As, multi-threading issue is VCV specific. Others apps like Logic work really well using it.
Yeah, I am going for the Air next time, with no Touch Bar.
In 2021 Apple stopped with the touch bars. The current 14- and 16 inch M laptops don’t have them anymore!
I use a Macbook Pro M1 and VCV runs very smooth. No problems ever! I know the OP doesn’t want it, but I highly recommend it. One small caveat though… not all plugins are ARM compatible yet unfortunately, but this is just a matter of time (or neglect)
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That’s great. The Air ones also don’t have touch bar.
But I am too poor to buy those expensive ones 
But they look really nice
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Yeah… they have a steep price… treasuring my “old” M1 
I used to buy rhe old 2012 Macbook models, really cheap. I think the M1’s, which are perfectly fine for me, will get really cheap at some point second. Maybe they already are haven’t checked, but I can do with the M1’s, so I hope that I maybe can save some bucks on buying second hand. Or maybe ask my daughter to buy one with student discount
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am i wrong or are the m1 modells only 13inch.
a quick search list only this ones available here in germany.
m2 and m3 are available in 13 and 15 inch.
the 15 inch with m3, 512 gb ssd, 16mb ram is about 2000€. 
thank you. don’t know it.