Apple made it possible to do just that with the release of macOS 11.2 beta 2, and open-source software developers have since then made quite a bit of progress toward the goal of porting Linux to Apple silicon Macs. Booting Linux natively: The holy grail for running Linux on M1-based Macs is booting the Linux kernel natively.Because emulation is extremely computationally expensive, it’s not suitable for regular use, but it works fine for testing purposes. Using software like QEMU, you can emulate a different hardware architecture and make your Linux distribution of choice think that it’s actually running on completely different hardware. Emulation: If you would like to run an x86-64 Linux distribution on an M1-based Mac, then emulation is the way to go.Virtualization using software like Parallels is a great way to run ARM Linux distributions, but this technology can’t be used to run x86-64 Linux distributions. These virtual versions can then be utilized as if they were real by an operating system like Linux. This abstraction layer makes it possible to create virtual versions of real physical resources, such as the CPU and storage. Virtualization: Using software, virtualization creates an abstraction layer over physical hardware.Instead, you have the following three main options: Unfortunately, you can’t use Rosetta to run your favorite Linux distributions alongside macOS. Using this translator, it’s possible to run apps that were developed for Intel-based Macs on M1-based Macs without any extra work. Basically, they speak a different language, which is why Apple developed a dynamic binary translator called Rosetta. M1-based Macs use a different instruction set (ARM) than their Intel-based siblings (x86-64). What Are My Options for Running Linux on M1 Macs? There’s just one major problem with them: they don’t exactly make it easy to run Linux.įortunately, running Linux on an M1-based Mac isn’t impossible either, and we explain how to do just that in this article. Thanks to their ARM architecture, M1-based Macs are extremely power-efficient and offer better performance than many comparable PCs.

Apple is on a roll with its current lineup of M1-based Macs, which now includes the compact Mac mini, the stylish iMac, the silent MacBook Air, and the beastly MacBook Pro.

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