Despite early support for Apple's M1 family of chips in Linux XNUMX, major developers have said that users still won't be able to install a Linux distribution on an Apple Silicon Mac anytime soon.
While Linux creator Linus Torvalds has been publicly passionate about making Linux-based operating systems run on Apple hardware, the open source project has many hurdles and stages of development, and everyone must sing from the same sheet music before it becomes a reality. . .
This was highlighted in a recent tweet (opens in new tab) from Asahi Linux, which states: "You're not going to be able to run Ubuntu or any other standard 1 distro on any MXNUMX Mac. Please don't get your hopes up." too high.
Linux a Mac M1
The thread continues: "We are continually updating kernel features, and 1 notably adds device trees and basic boot support for MXNUMX Pro/Max/Ultra machines."
While SoC processors have gained support of late, other Apple components have not. This includes the use of the keyboard and trackpad.
A support document (opens in a new tab) specifies a number of many issues Linux developers face, as they were forced to reverse engineer everything to accept Apple's M-series chips.
Some current general blocks include USB, Thunderbolt, Video Encoder, and GPU. There are also a number of specific device blocks, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Ethernet, microphones, webcam, Touch ID, and Touch Bar.
In a nutshell, Asahi Linux says: “Our goal is to make everything flow, but that doesn't mean distributions instantly get Apple Silicon support.
Despite the challenges, the project hopes to bring official Apple Silicon support for a mainstream Linux distribution "in the near future," but the recent announcement of XNUMX is not.