By the end of last year, we were already reflecting Linux developers’ intention to offer compatibility with Apple’s M1 chip, and almost six months later, we can already see the next step: Linux kernel version 5.13 RC is now ready for Apple Silicon chips.
This is a version Release the candidate, with a final and stable version scheduled for June. This is good news for a number of reasons, starting with the obvious great interest in developers beyond Apple’s systems.
The start of an interesting path for Linux on Mac
Once version 5.13 of the Linux kernel is officially released, any system distribution that uses it (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint …) will be able to runs natively and works well on Macs. Any virtual machine software will be able to emulate it, although we are still waiting if we will see something like Boot Camp again to run native Linux inside the computer itself (we can always install one on a external SSD drive).
At the moment, the support includes the basic components of the system, we will have to wait a little longer to see this kernel offering hardware acceleration and other optimizations. It’s slow and painstaking work, but for now it can be said that Linux is already delivering better results before Microsoft with its Windows architectures for ARM.
By the way, this compatibility is strictly limited to Macs, although knowing that the new iPad Pro will have the M1 chip on board would put a damper on the fact that there will be a lot of effort trying to install a fully functioning Linux on it.
