Developers Release First Alpha Build of Asahi Linux for Apple M1 Chips

A first alpha version of Asahi Linux has been released for Apple computers with the M1 chip. It is based on Arch Linux and uses KDE Plasma as its desktop. It is the first Linux build to run natively on M1 computers.

The build can be installed on the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max. Asahi doesn’t work on the Mac Studio yet, warn the makers. Users must be running at least macOS 12.3 on that PC. Also, the devices must have at least 53GB of free disk space to coexist with macOS.

Asahi Linux is a Linux distro that is based on the Arm variant of Arch Linux. The OS uses KDE’s Plasma desktop UI. In addition to a full installation with all standard packages, there is also a bare-bones Arch environment that only has ‘minimal support packages’. Also, Asahi’s installer only offers a UEFI environment that allows users to choose the distro later. The installation creates a dual boot, keeping the original OS.

According to the makers, it is still a very early alpha build of the OS and many functions do not work yet. For example, DisplayPort and Thunderbolt do not yet work, bluetooth does not work and graphic options such as GPU and video code acceleration do not work. Still, Asahi is the first Linux distro to run natively on Apple’s chipset. According to the makers, no jailbreak is required for the installation. The use of the M1 chip makes it possible to store security functions for macOS in a separate place on the soc. As a result, functions such as FileVault and Apple Pay continue to work alongside the installation of the OS.