Asahi Linux is already running on the Mac Studio’s new M1 Ultra chip

Asahi Linux is already running on the Mac Studio’s new M1 Ultra chip

2 years ago
Anonymous $R5WK5a8uaN

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/asahi-linux-is-already-running-on-the-mac-studios-new-m1-ultra-chip/

Apple Silicon Macs have gotten mostly glowing reviews on Ars and elsewhere for their speed, power efficiency, and the technical achievement they represent—the chips are scaled-up phone processors that can perform as well or better than comparable Intel chips while using less power.

But the move away from x86 hardware has also made the Mac a bit less useful for those who want to run multiple operating systems on their Macs. While you can run ARM versions of Linux and (with caveats and without official support) Windows within virtual machines on Apple Silicon Macs, running alternate operating systems directly on top of the hardware isn't something Apple supports. Apple doesn't distribute drivers for other operating systems, and moving away from x86 CPUs and widely supported Intel and AMD GPUs makes it harder for other developers to step in and provide those drivers.