Few people doubt at this stage the step represented by Apple Silicon, the chips developed by Apple and which have been assembling its computers for four years. But in case there were any doubts, there are these managed to take advantage of Apple chips in “enemy” territory. Neither more nor less than under Linux. Or rather in a distribution of this system.
A little context. In 2020, a historic change began in Apple computers. After 14 years behind Intel, Macs began to have their own ARM architecture processors, known as Apple Silicon and the first representative of which was the M1 chip, initially integrated into the MacBook Air and Pro M1 and Mac mini M1 (months later it would add the iMac M1).
What is Asahi Linux. Although it doesn’t seem to have much to do with it, Asahi Linux was born with the idea of being a Linux distribution ready to run on devices equipped with Apple ARM chips. It is an open source project created by Spanish hacker Héctor Martin, better known in the industry as Marcan.
This idea of having a version of Linux compatible with Macs with Apple Silicon was going through the stages by leaps and bounds. So much so that it was welcomed by thousands of enthusiasts and specialized media like ARS Technica were amazed by the reverse engineering that Asahi Linux had carried out during its first months of life.
What has changed. As already happened in macOS itself on the Macs themselves with Apple Silicon, there were limitations. Apple has managed to solve them with tools like Rosetta 2, capable of translating the code of applications made for Intel and allowing them to run reliably on the new ARM architecture. In the case of Asahi Linux, similar limitations existed.
The video game area was by far the most complex to solve in this Linux distribution with Apple chips. However, just a few days ago, developer Alyssa Rosenzweig announced that she had achieved what was previously impossible: releasing triple-A games.
Why it matters. This company in which Rosenzweig collaborated with the Spaniard Marcan and many other developers finally makes it possible to produce games with high graphic demands such as “The Witcher 3”, “Cyberpunk 2077”, “Hellow Knight” or “Portal 2”.
All this in the Asahi Linux distribution and running under Apple’s M1 chip, so it’s not even necessary to have a more advanced SoC like the M2, M3 or M4 series. This is a feat that was achieved by emulating graphics engines such as DirectX through advanced drivers such as Vulkan. “Quite a challenge,” say the experts.
And now what? Well, beyond the fact that Linux enthusiasts can finally run these types of games under Apple chips, it demonstrates once again that Macs have more than enough capabilities to be very good computers to play on. They will probably never hold the throne, which is reserved for other types of computers, SoCs and systems, but by making developers understand that they can bet on the App Store and win a sizable niche of users who until now have resigned themselves to thinking that Macs don’t do. They were used for playing.
By | 3DGames
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