I put Asahi Linux on my M1 MacBook and it’s surprisingly usable in 2026
I put Asahi Linux on my M1 MacBook and it’s surprisingly usable in 2026
https://www.makeuseof.com/asahi-linux-m1-macbook-surprisingly-usable/
Publish Date: 2026-03-13 15:31:00
Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com
I’ve put Linux on many of my older Macs as a way to extend their life or to learn more about the Linux operating system. That came to an end when Apple started making its own Silicon, as Linux had always needed Intel on a Mac to manage the install.
No longer, though, as Asahi Linux lets you install Fedora with GNOME or KDE Plasma on your Mac M1 or M2 machine.
I decided to install it on my older MacBook Air M1 to see how well it could handle the workflow I use daily: Asana, Zoom and Teams, Slack, web apps, and the like. What would it be like, I wondered, to sit down without macOS or Windows 11 (my typical daily drivers) and do the work I do.
Turns out, this version of Linux is pretty darn capable, with a few caveats that keep it from being my main laptop for work.
Setting up the dual boot was the easiest Linux install I’ve ever done
The hardest part was holding the power button down
This was probably the easiest Linux install I’ve ever done, and most of that is because Asahi Linux has done most of the work. It didn’t assume I knew much, which was great, and walked me through step by step to make sure the process went smoothly.
I started the whole install with a clean install of macOS and then launched…
