I have an M4 Pro MacBook Pro & an M2 Max Mac Studio, and I would like to be able to run the same Windows 11 VM on either machine, depending on if I am at home or somewhere else. I think this comes down to one of three solutions, but if you have other suggestions I would like to hear about them.
1) external drive
I do not like the external drive option, since it is cumbersome on the MacBook Pro. I do not want wires protruding from the machine when I am using it somewhere remote, nor do I want to support the drive physically, like on a desk, bench or whatnot. Tiny usb-C flash drives don't seem to exist like they did in type-A, but if they do exist and are fast enough I would consider that. From what I have seen, most are just copies of the old fashioned pack-of-gum type, usually even longer because they also have type-A ports on the other side.
2) SD card
I would prefer to use an SD card, but researching this is hard because every search result talks about using the SD card from within a running VM, and that is not the issue. I just want to know if it is practically fast enough to run a Windows 11 VM, for Solidworks for example. If you do this, how well does it work for you?
3) iCloud drive/Google Drive for Desktop/similar
Is it technically possible to run a VM from a cloud drive? I sync my documents and desktop folders to iCloud - is it possible to load and run a VM from this folder? Beside technical limitations -- if they exist -- are there other factors to consider? What about Google Drive for Desktop? I have a 2TB limit and this would be the most ideal place to store a VM. I don't have that much in iCloud.
