Asahi Linux 7.1 Progress Report

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Efforts to run Asahi Linux natively on Apple Silicon are advancing, with growing hardware support (including M1–M3 GPUs, PCIe, Wi‑Fi, and more) but lingering gaps in areas like power management and some display features. Commenters highlight the immense reverse-engineering effort required in the absence of Apple documentation, debate whether Apple has any incentive to help or open up its platform, and compare Asahi’s performance and usability with macOS or Linux-on-Framework-style laptops. There is also interest in broader distro support and upstreaming into the mainline Linux kernel, alongside concerns that limited funding and manpower may slow progress just as Apple’s hardware generations keep moving.

Overall sentiment on Asahi progress

  • Many are impressed that a small team has achieved native Vulkan 1.2 and broad usability, especially on M1/M2.
  • Others stress that key problems remain unsolved after years (e.g., power management), illustrating the pain of reverse‑engineering proprietary hardware.
  • Some argue even partial support on a few models is already a big win compared to having no alternative at all.

Hardware support, power management, and daily‑driving

  • Reports differ on usability: some say M1 Air battery drain at idle is too high and external display (Alt‑DP) is problematic under certain desktop environments; others report Asahi as a very stable daily driver on M2 Max with working DisplayPort.
  • Power management is complicated by Apple not implementing PSCI, which Linux expects; Apple platforms use their own mechanism.
  • M3 support is underway; core components (PCIe, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, NVMe, input devices) are reportedly working in development builds, but installer support is still some way off.

Apple’s incentives and openness

  • Many question why Apple doesn’t fund or assist Asahi, suggesting it would be cheap goodwill and might sell more hardware.
  • Counterarguments:
    • Macs are a small portion of Apple’s revenue; Apple mainly optimizes for its own ecosystem, services, and control.
    • Supporting Linux increases responsibility and long‑term maintenance; Apple prefers to keep firmware, drivers, and schematics private.
    • Historically, Apple has not prioritized Linux even on earlier architectures.
  • Some note Apple already provides strong virtualization support on Apple Silicon, which they use instead of bare‑metal Asahi.

Distros, upstreaming, and ecosystem

  • Asahi work is being upstreamed to the mainline kernel, but this is slow and demanding.
  • Various distros already exist or are possible on Apple Silicon: Fedora Asahi Remix, Arch, Void, NixOS, Ubuntu Asahi, and experimental Debian ports.
  • Some expect a persistent need for Asahi‑specific installers/bootloaders due to Apple’s platform quirks.

Project process, policies, and tooling

  • m1n1 enables automated tethered boot, debugging, and CI‑like workflows.
  • The project explicitly forbids using LLMs for contributions, which some see as philosophically sound but practically limiting.
  • Discussion touches on Linux kernel culture: high standards are valued, but toxicity in reviews is seen as a barrier for some contributors.

Alternative hardware and comparisons

  • Several argue Apple no longer uniquely dominates laptop quality; Framework, Zephyrus, XPS, and others are seen as competitive, especially with newer x86/Arm chips.
  • For top‑tier battery life with *nix, many still see MacBooks (with macOS) as unmatched; Linux battery life on generic hardware lags.