If you spend big bucks on a MBP, and still have problems with performance, you could start using the cloud or a home server for that docker stuff. Scaleway has reasonable priced servers, or you buy something like a simple Zotac Mini PC to run as linux server at home.
Do you happen to know any great guide for setting it up properly?
I did it a while back with docker machine but I remember it being quite the hassle and didn't work as smoothly as a locale instance, damn shame since docker is the number obesity leading reason I keep running out of ram on my laptop.