Installing GNU/Linux on an Apple Silicon Mac? Good luck ! A team of enthusiasts has been working on the project for three years. You have made significant progress recently.
Source: Asahi Project
The Asahi Project is an exciting adventure for GNU/Linux enthusiasts. The goal ? Run Linux, the free, open-source operating system, on Macs equipped with the latest generation of Apple ARM chips called Apple Silicon. You used to be able to use Windows and Linux on Macs thanks to Intel chips and tools like Boot Camp, but since Apple switched its chips to ARM models, that's all over.
A team of enthusiasts worked on this project for three years. They've even pulled off a major coup: They've developed a special version of Linux called Fedora Asahi Linux that works with the KDE Plasma desktop environment on these Macs. And it works. But it is not easy. Apple hasn't provided much information about its new chips and almost no documentation, so the team will have to work hard to understand how it all works. How ? Through reverse engineering.
Source: Asahi Project
Reverse engineering is a bit like deciphering a puzzle without having the reference image. Let's say you have an object or software, but you're missing the blueprints or source code that explains how it was made. Reverse engineering involves taking the thing apart or analyzing the software piece by piece to understand how it works. This is a method often used when technical information is not available or protected. Essentially, you play a tech detective.
Important recent advances
Among the recent advances published on the official blog, optimizing autonomy is one of the most important topics. Asahi developers reveal that they have significantly improved the battery life of Macs, which can be comparable to the performance of macOS on the same devices. By using Energy-Aware Scheduling (EAS), the system can now select the most energy-efficient processor core for each task.
HDMI compatibility for Apple M1 and M2 chips is another impressive advancement and makes using external displays (in 4K at 60 Hz) much easier. The team also made significant progress in graphics support, including implementing OpenGL ES 3.1 and supporting OpenGL 3.2 with its geometry shaders. This latest achievement is particularly impressive given Apple's M chips' native incompatibility with geometry shaders.
However, development is still ongoing, particularly when it comes to HDMI on M2 Macs and support for 4K displays above 60Hz. Other important work is underway, ranging from optimizing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections to trackpad and Touch Bar improvements.
For the more adventurous, it is already possible to test Fedora Asahi Remix on Mac M1 or M2. Be careful, there are still some issues, like the lack of a microphone or TouchID, but overall it works well for everyday use. In short, an exciting technical challenge that shows the strength of the Linux community and is exciting to follow.