Asahi Linux
A Linux distribution for Apple Silicon Macs, built on reverse-engineered hardware drivers.
Loved for running Linux as a daily driver on M1 and M2 Macs12345 and admired for the team's impressive reverse-engineering progress.6789 The most common complaint is incomplete hardware support, especially for external displays,1011121314 and newer M-series chips are not yet supported.151617
Why people recommend it
Daily driver · 3
Several owners run it full-time on M1 and M2 machines and call it their favorite laptop setup.
“Asahi + M2 Macbook air is the best laptop I have ever owner. I would highly recommend the combo”
“My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever.”
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“I use Asahi Linux as my M2 work laptop on a daily basis.”
Impressive effort · 3
Commenters praise the team for making remarkable progress on a very hard reverse-engineering problem.
“Asahi Linux is a testament to a team attempting the impossible and making unbelievable progress”
“While I love Asahi as such and am really blown away by the effort”
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“especially with Asahi Linux making such great progress”
macOS alternative · 3
Users like getting Apple hardware without having to use macOS.
“its way better than having to use MacOS”
“I just don't trust macOS enough to run the hw, AsahiLinux/Linux Kernel I do”
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“this project brings open platform to my MacBook, I'm happy with that.”
Hardware longevity · 3
Some see it as a way to keep Apple Silicon machines useful after Apple drops support.
“It‘s going to be a godsend for people with M1 macs”
“especially with Asahi Linux making such great progress”
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“Without Asahi Linux I would not buy a Mac in 2026.”
Performance · 1
One user says it outperforms Linux on a recent Intel laptop at almost everything.
“I use Asahi Linux as my M2 work laptop on a daily basis.”
Caveats and dissent
Hardware gaps · 3
Some hardware still doesn't work, such as the fingerprint reader and speakers.
“it still doesn't fully support all of the hardware on M1. I know it because I used Asahi while I had M1.”
“its way better than having to use MacOS”
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“my old M1 MacBook Pro runs Asahi and, while I love it and everything the team has done, it's not really daily drivable for work”
External displays · 3
Missing USB/DP Alt external display support makes it hard to use for work for some people.
“I use Asahi Linux as my M2 work laptop on a daily basis.”
“my old M1 MacBook Pro runs Asahi and, while I love it and everything the team has done, it's not really daily drivable for work”
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“I had Asahi on it 2 years ago but in the end had almost bricked it when I tried to reinstall.”
Newer chips · 3
Newer M-series Macs such as the M4 are not supported, and reverse engineering each generation is slow.
“it still doesn't fully support all of the hardware on M1. I know it because I used Asahi while I had M1.”
“My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever.”
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“the (awesome) Asahi efforts are challenged by reverse engineering of changes from M2 to M3”
Battery and sleep · 2
Sleep drains about 1% of battery per hour, and battery life is slightly worse than on macOS.
“I use Asahi Linux as my M2 work laptop on a daily basis.”
“that experience was also top notch”
Setup limits · 2
Reinstalls can go wrong, and the required macOS partition complicates setups like an encrypted ZFS root.
“I had Asahi on it 2 years ago but in the end had almost bricked it when I tried to reinstall.”
“While I love Asahi as such and am really blown away by the effort”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Asahi Linux on M3 5 mentions
- Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra 3 mentions
- Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0 2 mentions
- New 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M6 1 mention
- Apple ML Research: Muse Spark Open with MLX on Mac Studio 1 mention
- Turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 and get its disk space back 1 mention
Data: asahi-linux.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 29
“I love and respect what Asahi has done”
“I plan to transition it to Asahi or Gravity soon”
“that experience was also top notch”
“Asahi Linux is a testament to a team attempting the impossible and making unbelievable progress”
“Asahi + M2 Macbook air is the best laptop I have ever owner. I would highly recommend the combo”
“its way better than having to use MacOS”
“99% of the time I'm booting into AsahiLinux”
“I just don't trust macOS enough to run the hw, AsahiLinux/Linux Kernel I do”
“It‘s going to be a godsend for people with M1 macs”
“I used Asahi linux on M1 for a couple years, and dual booted”
“the (awesome) Asahi efforts are challenged by reverse engineering of changes from M2 to M3”
“my old M1 MacBook Pro runs Asahi and, while I love it and everything the team has done, it's not really daily drivable for work”
“I had Asahi on it 2 years ago but in the end had almost bricked it when I tried to reinstall.”
“My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever.”
“it still doesn't fully support all of the hardware on M1. I know it because I used Asahi while I had M1.”
“especially with Asahi Linux making such great progress”
“I have an Asahi Linux M2 macbook that I use for work”
“I use Asahi Linux as my M2 work laptop on a daily basis.”
“switch my Asahi ALARM M1 Macbook to official repos”
“explore Asahi Linux and maybe start contributing in a few months”
“this project brings open platform to my MacBook, I'm happy with that.”
“I also have a Macbook Air M2 running Asahi Linux.”
“I am both a monthly supporter of the Asahi project”
“While I love Asahi as such and am really blown away by the effort”
“I will attempt to use Asahi as my daily driver once this is officially released.”
“Without Asahi Linux I would not buy a Mac in 2026.”
“Modern MacBooks DO run Linux”
“I might soon put Asahi on this machine and go back to a fully virtualized system.”
“This reminds me of projects like asahi and cosmopolitan c.”