I am in a household where every single device I own is currently running Fedora Silverblue, except for a Mac. It’s far better than the mess Windows is, but I started to wonder if it can beat macOS as well.
So I decided that maybe it was time that my MacBook Air got the pleasure of changing operating systems, but it turned out to be a very underwhelming experience.
Sorry, Linux fans: This OS is actually the better Windows replacement
Not Linux, not Windows. Something better.
Asahi Linux is the best (and only) way to run Linux on a Mac
Distro hopping is much harder here
The thing about Apple silicon Macs is that it’s not as simple as downloading an AArch64 ISO of your favorite distro and installing it. Yes, the M-series chips are ARM-based, but that doesn’t automatically make the whole system compatible in the same way most traditional x86 PCs are.
Pretty much everything in modern MacBooks is custom. The boot process isn’t standard UEFI like on most PCs. Apple has its own boot chain called iBoot. The same goes for other things, like the GPU, power management, USB controllers, and pretty much every other hardware component. It is as proprietary as it gets.
This is exactly what the team behind Asahi Linux has been working toward. Their entire goal has been to make Linux properly usable on M-series Macs by building the missing pieces from the ground up.
I first tried it back in 2023, when the project was still tied to Arch Linux and decided to give it a try again in 2026. These days, though, the main release is called Fedora Asahi Remix, which, as the name suggests, is built on Fedora rather than Arch.
There are still alternatives like Asahi Alarm, which sticks to an Arch-based approach. But realistically, the Fedora-based version is the safest bet. Support on Apple silicon is already limited compared to traditional PCs, so it makes more sense to use the version the core team actively prioritizes.
Keep in mind, installing Asahi Linux isn’t as straightforward as flashing a USB drive and booting into an installer like you would with most other distros. The process is completely different.
Because Apple tightly controls the entire boot chain on Apple silicon Macs, you can’t just boot from external media in the traditional sense. Instead, you’ll need to run this command in the terminal.
curl https://alx.sh | sh
Once you enter the command, the script handles most of the heavy lifting. It will guide you step by step, resize your existing macOS partition, and set everything up properly.
It started off great, then went downhill fast
The worst of Linux, the best of none
During the installation, you’re asked which desktop environment you want. I chose KDE Plasma since that’s what I’ve always used, though GNOME is right there if you prefer it.
On the first boot, everything seemed fine. It felt like a normal system, and the one app I cared about most was already there — a browser. Firefox, to be precise. Before getting into the issues I ran into, there was one limitation I already knew about before installing it.
There’s no support for DisplayPort over USB-C, and external monitors don’t work unless your MacBook has a built-in HDMI port. That meant I was stuck using the small 13-inch display the entire time. Not ideal, but I decided to live with it for a week just to properly try out Asahi. Unfortunately, it did not get better.
The one thing I absolutely love about my MacBook Air is the battery life. On Asahi Linux, it just isn’t the same. The experience feels much closer to a typical Windows laptop. One night, I put the laptop to sleep at around 80%. By the time I woke up, it had dropped to 50%. On macOS, in the exact same situation, I would usually lose just 3 to 5% at most.
As much as I hate to admit it, Linux just doesn’t feel fully ready for ARM yet. A lot of applications still aren’t compiled for ARM, so software support ends up being very hit or miss.
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I tried experimenting with FEX, which works as a translation layer similar to Rosetta 2, but I didn’t have much luck. Most of the apps I tested either didn’t run properly or weren’t stable enough to rely on. But this might vastly improve in the near future, as Valve is also heavily working on contributing towards FEX for the upcoming Steam Frame.
I was already irritated enough to consider going back to macOS, but it completely fell apart when Asahi refused to connect to my phone’s hotspot (no, it wasn’t an iPhone).
At that point, I had no external display support, most of my apps did not work properly, and the battery life was disappointing. I started wondering if it was even worth it.
Is there even a reason to install Linux on an Apple silicon Mac yet?
Apple funnily made something that lasts
One of the biggest reasons people install Linux on a device is because it cannot run Windows or macOS smoothly. That’s simply not the case for M-series Macs yet. I installed Asahi on an M1 MacBook Air, which is the entry-level Apple silicon Mac, and even there, macOS Tahoe performed better for me overall. The moment where Linux can truly “breathe new life” into these machines just isn’t here yet.
Unless you have a very specific use case that requires Linux, it’s hard to justify the switch. In my experience, it felt like a downgrade.
Linux and macOS are both Unix-like systems, anyway. I rely on a lot of CLI tools in my daily workflow, and every single one of them runs perfectly fine on macOS too.
Even if you’re planning to buy a Mac specifically to install Linux on it, that probably won’t work out. As of now, anything newer than the M2 series isn’t supported by Asahi, so this is really only an option if you already own an older machine.
If you want a full breakdown of supported models and hardware details, you’ll need to check Asahi’s official support page. So, in its current state, Asahi is still more of a hassle to get running.
Everyone says Linux is better than Windows, but I’m not buying it
I get the love for Linux; I just don’t share it.
I am going back to macOS… for now
After trying it out, I’m sticking with macOS for now because it still runs incredibly well on my Mac. It’s a shame Apple makes things so difficult for open-source developers, especially when the hardware itself is this good.
I still think a macOS and Linux combination is one of the best setups you can have. I’m just hoping hardware support improves over the next few months so I can eventually consolidate everything onto a single device.
