Mac users get another operating system option: Fedora Linux 39 is now available for download as the first official release in the form of “Fedora Asahi Linux”. By default, a dual boot system consisting of macOS and Linux is set up. The Linux distribution supports Macs with the Apple M1 and M2 chips, including the Pro, Max and Ultra variants. Support for the latest MacBook Pro models and Apple’s M3 series is currently missing – the Mac Pro is also currently left out.
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Extensive support for Apple hardware
With Fedora 39, the latest version of the Linux distribution comes to Macs, which includes KDE Plasma as a desktop. All platform-specific packages are already available in Fedora’s upstream repositories and are “fully supported.” Improvements and bug fixes should be implemented quickly through close collaboration with the Fedora project. Fedora Asahi Remix brings support for OpenGL back to Macs with an Apple chip, the driver for OpenGL ES 3.1 is officially certified as standards-compliant. Support for Vulkan and OpenGL 4.x is also in the works.
Fedora Asahi Remix supports many hardware components of MacBooks and desktop Macs, including WLAN and Bluetooth, the integrated keyboards including backlighting, trackpads, speakers, headphone jack and webcam. Microphones, the Touch ID fingerprint scanner and Thunderbolt are not supported, and external screens cannot be controlled via USB-C.
Several years of work on Linux for Apple Silicon
The Asahi Linux Project has been working on bringing Linux to Macs with Apple Silicon for a good two years, and preliminary versions have been available for some time. The developers originally relied on the ARM64 version of Arch Linux, but then switched to Fedora in the summer of 2023 because closer collaboration was apparently possible there. Most recently, the project also drew attention with an important bug report: After changing a display setting on the MacBook Pro, a serious error could occur during system updates. Apple has now fixed the error.
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