I am wondering how much the spec changes per M-chip iteration? I think that after some iterations, the spec stays the same, no?
Asahi Linux on M3
21–30 of 359 posts
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
They want control on the walled garden. When was the last time apple did anything for public unless forced by FCC. Now there is no hope since they can simply donate to trump.
Apple made some changes specifically for Asahi Linux to make it more robust. I believe it was Hector Martin who discussed it on Mastodon a while ago.
Source? It's a welcome thing but very much not like Apple.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
They want control on the walled garden. When was the last time apple did anything for public unless forced by FCC. Now there is no hope since they can simply donate to trump.
Apple made some changes specifically for Asahi Linux to make it more robust. I believe it was Hector Martin who discussed it on Mastodon a while ago.
Would you happen to have a link to this? I would like to learn about this but unfortunately treehouse.systems doesn't seem to be very well indexed by search engines, and Mastodon's search is failing me.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#24Here's the blog post from the Asahi devs announcing this: https://asahilinux.org/2026/09/m2-episode-1/
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wouldn’t even be a problem for Apple to support Linux. Linux’s desktop market share has never been a threat to Apple at all. I hope Ternus, being the engineer he is, opens this up.
I don't think Linus Torvalds has any sway on what Apple does. Or do you mean John Ternus, the new CEO?
My phone autocorrected Ternus to Torvalds, what a catch!
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#26Why Apple does not at least provide the specs to the community? So much wasted effort when they can just share a pdf.
Apple's hypervisor.framework lets other OS instances run very very fast with the UTM app (open source on github, but i use the prebuilt version from the App Store). In my case i've used arm native linuxes (arch with various compositors, kde, gnome, fedora) all on M2, M2 Max, M5 and the experience is indistinguishable from native. MacOS is running too. I think hardcore graphics folks might want direct accelerator access, or there'd be curiously little reason for Asahi (other than that it's awesome work).
I use UTM in emulation mode, NOT Qemu simulation mode, which is wasteful.
just my $0.02.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#27I am wondering how much the spec changes per M-chip iteration? I think that after some iterations, the spec stays the same, no?
Your intuition here is wrong.
Processors, not just Apple’s, change constantly between generations. The core instruction set doesn’t change, but they get new capabilities, not just with new instruction sets.
Remember the SoC isn’t just the CPU. It’s display engines, GPUs, storage controllers, video decoders and more.
Even outside of Apple, you’ll see hardware vendors provide Linux patches for their latest CPUs to keep working well. There’s some baseline functionality that works out of the box but it’s never a free ride.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#28Why Apple does not at least provide the specs to the community? So much wasted effort when they can just share a pdf.
Apple's hypervisor.framework lets other OS instances run very very fast with the UTM app (open source on github, but i use the prebuilt version from the App Store). In my case i've used arm native linuxes (arch with various compositors, kde, gnome, fedora) all on M2, M2 Max, M5 and the experience is indistinguishable from native. MacOS is running too. I think hardcore graphics folks might want direct accelerator acce…
What is the purpose here? You are still stuck with a full blown MacOS running the system no? That is what Asahi tries to replace, not the other way around.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#29Why Apple does not at least provide the specs to the community? So much wasted effort when they can just share a pdf.
Apple's hypervisor.framework lets other OS instances run very very fast with the UTM app (open source on github, but i use the prebuilt version from the App Store). In my case i've used arm native linuxes (arch with various compositors, kde, gnome, fedora) all on M2, M2 Max, M5 and the experience is indistinguishable from native. MacOS is running too. I think hardcore graphics folks might want direct accelerator acce…
This misses the point entirely. What happens when apple inevitably discontinues support for this hardware.
Re: Asahi Linux on M3
#30Why Apple does not at least provide the specs to the community? So much wasted effort when they can just share a pdf.
So that you have to keep buying Macs every few years of course. If they gave you a way to install linux easily then you could use it far past their intended lifespan and wouldnt keep you locked into the apple ecosystem. They have proved time and time again that Apple hardware running anything but MacOS or iOS is something they will work very hard to stop you doing.
> past their intended lifespan
This bullshit needs to die. The products are designed to last.