I have a brand new MacBook Air with an M1 chip. Can I install Linux on this machine? I have previously installed Linux on Windows machines, but is there anything different I need to know about doing it on a Mac? What distros would you recommend? I am not a Mac person, so I don’t need it to look or feel like a Mac; I ask more for compatibility with the hardware, etc. Thanks to all of you in this forum!
1 Like
Great question! I am in the same situation. Please let me know if you learn anything.
1 Like
Hey @Margo & @Suzanne!
There is dedicated Linux distro being formed, yet not fully complete that will work on an M1 chip.
You can find it here:
1 Like
Hi @vasileios, what do you mean “not fully formed”? I am capable of installing Mint on an old PC that was near the end of it’s life without Linux. How different would this install be? I am afraid of ruining an almost brand new MacBook.
1 Like
There’s still hardware that doesn’t work as intended, thus I wouldn’t recommend moving your brand new M1 to Linux just yet. At least not until everything has been resolved.
You can find the exact list here:
Alternatively, you can experience the performance via a Virtual Machine, which is absolutely incredible (I tested Ubuntu and Debian on my M1 Pro) via Parallels. The downside is that Parallels is subscription-based, but it allows you to run nearly every OS on it (that supports ARM processors).
2 Likes
Hi,
I also got an M1 Mac not realizing its limitations for Linux.
I am thinking of doing up the virtual machine route but before doing so am wondering if there are decent virtual machines for free. ($110/year for Parallels is kind of a lot fo me.)
I have never used a virtual machine on a Mac, but for my Linux machine, I used VMware to install Windows. I used the free version, which is different from the trial version (VMWare.com). Look carefully for the correct link to download. Works great.
1 Like