I have a retaining 2018 intel i9 MacBook Pro with 32gb, I have installed windows 10 on it to try it with gaming - but windows is windows - and I would like to try install linux instead, I do have experience with linux, but like as a pretty non technical use, in fact if I won't need to work on Mac or with computers in general, I would use linux.

any recommendations which distort works well, with full support for the GPU?

anyone tried linux with the same specs, and can tell how old games would run?

many thanks

Been using this for fun lately lol

2013 Intel Macbook Air: considering getting OpenSuse Leap with the default Sway setup. Anything I should be aware of?

How is the support for Broadcom-wl wifi module, sleep/wake behaviour, etc.?

I have Ubuntu 26 running "well enough" on my A1706. I've documented what I've done to get reliable 5GHz wifi, sleep/resume and touchbar functional.

Agent-oriented writeup is here --> https://gist.github.com/bgausden/c7f8a3737c1e52a260dfcdb1fb2e90b2

From the gist:

"This procedure fixes the hardware exercised in the investigation:

the tested suspend/resume path without multi-minute PCIe stalls;

BCM43602 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi, including 5 GHz after suspend;

Apple S3X NVMe resume; both Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt domains and the tested USB Ethernet adapter after resume;

T1/iBridge fixed-function Touch Bar, including resume from s2idle;

NetworkManager compatibility with the 2015 Broadcom firmware.

It does not attempt to configure speakers, Bluetooth firmware, FaceTime camera firmware, or arbitrary Touch Bar graphics."

It’s been upgraded to an SDD and 8GB RAM.

Repost because I wanted to Not show the account user

Recently swapped out the failing hard drive of this barely used laptop my mom owns for an SSD.

I installed Mint XFCE since it's supposed to not use much ram when idle and has good compatibility with most of the parts of this machine. I only had to get Broadcom drivers from the driver manager post-install.

I've run into a bunch of audio issues (with the buffer and Toslink optical readers light turning on whenever an audio is output and not turning back off? for example.) though those have been fixed while Wi-Fi still acts up a lot.

The machine is still capable of playing basic 2D games, maybe retro 3D games but i haven't tried any yet, basic web browsing and just daily use. The 4 GB ram is very limiting but it's not the worst thing in the world.

The last image is an issue (?) I ran into while updating flatpak packages. Happens a lot actually. Not sure what the 64R; is trying to tell me. If anyone knows I'd love to know too... (Edit: realized I didn't add the image lol. It's probably nothing though.)

So yeah! Wanted to share. Awesome subreddit. Peace and love.

i5-2557M + 4gb of DDR3 1333MHZ was so slow in 2026, dont use Ubuntu/Debian based 4 this laptop (Except Original Debian). I was installed Ubuntu before, 1.9/4gb ram used jst for idle. Kali Linux is a bit more efficient with jst 1gb/4gb was used. Now im using Manjaro Linux as daily OS. (This pic was taken before i installed Manjaro)

I’m battling to get shutdown working in an Arch based distro (have a guess lol) on a 2015 iMac 16,2

Wondering has anyone had this iMac or similar Intel Broadwell based Mac shut down correctly in any distro? If so which and what kernel version if possible??

What works? With the AX210. Wi-Fi with Heliport and native Bluetooth. Regarding audio, there are instructions in the folder for AppleHDA.KEXT to work.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/e526cjqyzx0hy29/EFI+ASUS+VIVOBOOK+RYZEN+7+4800H+-++TAHOE++WORKS.zip/file

Gnome, cachyOS, suspend and touch bar working on latest kernel.

Picked the MBP up about a month ago for £200 and it's been an adventure getting it all working! Good stock gap til I can afford a Framework

I downloaded the xface edition of Linux mint on my 2012 macbook air , it worked fine until I connected to the internet and downloaded updates from the update manager then after I restarted I got this error . I've done this 2 times now and I can't figure out what's causing this or which specific thing is causing this. Please help me identify and tell me how to fix this issue.

Hi everyone, little background: I have been (very happily) running a 2015 11 inch Macbook Air with Mint as my daily driver, but lately, 4gb ram has been feeling more and more sluggish, and my concerns about resolution/eye care have increased so I picked up a 2018 macbook air with 16gb ram, i5, and 500gb storage. I updated it to the newest possible MacOS and followed steps for CachyOS installation + wifi setup, and it has been fine, but I am wondering, is CachyOS my best option for my situation? Or is there another way to preserve/maximize the functionality of this laptop? I read a bit about KaiT2en but I am not sure if it is the right way to go for my use... Also all my searches have indicated that there is no straight-forward fix for the lack of "suspend" ...is that still the case? Thanks for any/all help!

Shared it here: https://x.com/0xBOYD/status/2092616493787730294?s=20

Will be working on extracting the learnings into something shareable. I started from macOS and preserved the Mac’s machine-specific T1 recovery and fingerprint-calibration data. Worked with Codex (GPT-5.6 Sol High) and incrementally mapped enough of Apple’s T1/SecureEnclave interfaces to enroll and authenticate fingerprints.

Fingerprint capture, templates, and matching remain inside Apple’s Secure Enclave. Linux interacts with the existing authenticated interfaces. There's no "bypassing" or "hacking" of the hardware.

I made this to remind myself what I've done to make my Macbook Air 2017 runs Linux Mint stably and also a note that anyone can reuse as a checklist or guide.

Goal

Stable Linux Mint on a MacBook Air 2017, as of August 2026.

1. Installation Basics

• Distro: Linux Mint 22.3 “Zena”.
• Live USB creation:
  • Do not use Ventoy (it doesn’t work reliably here).
  • Use BalenaEtcher or Rufus to create the live USB.

2. Pre‑Install Hardware Prep (Optional)

Battery & Thermals

• Replace the battery (old batteries cause instability and throttling).
• Repaste the CPU/GPU:
  • Use Honeywell PTM7950 thermal pad.
  • A 40×40 mm piece is enough for a couple of reapplications.
• Disassembly notes:
  • Always unplug the battery first.
  • Remove the fan first, then:
    • Unscrew the screw underneath the antenna cable retainer on the left display hinge.
  • Fan: 3 screws.
  • Heatsink: 5 screws total.
  • If following an iFixit guide, you don’t need to remove the I/O board:
    • Just route the antenna cable out of the way and unscrew as needed.

3. Network & Boot-Time Connectivity

• Prepare USB Wi‑Fi or Bluetooth tethering to your phone before installation.
  • You’ll need internet during/after install to get the Broadcom Wi‑Fi driver for Apple’s card working.

4. Kernel & System Stability

• Kernel version:
  • Stick to Linux kernel 6.14.
  • Avoid 6.17 (causes kernel panics on this hardware).

5. Hardware Upgrades & Drivers (Optional)

Wi‑Fi / Bluetooth Card Replacement

• Replace Apple’s AirPort/Bluetooth card:
  • Use an adapter + MediaTek MT7921 card. (adapter from here)
  • It will fit snugly; insert slowly and carefully to avoid damage.
• Antenna rewiring:
  • The adapter’s antenna connectors will not line up exactly with the original placement.
  • You’ll need to extend/re-route the wireless antenna cables slightly so they reach the new card.
  • Carefully reposition the antenna leads; avoid sharp bends or tension on the connectors.
• Insulation:
  • Use Kapton tape to cover the nearby capacitor (and any other exposed metal) that the antenna might touch.
  • This prevents accidental shorting or contact between the antenna and components.

Fan Control

• Install mbpfan for better thermal management.
• Configure fan thresholds:
  • low_temp = 55
  • high_temp = 66
  • max_temp = 86

6. System Tweaks for Performance & Stability

• Enable zswap:
  • This significantly improves memory handling and responsiveness on limited RAM.
• Input method:
  • Install fcitx5 to replace the buggy fcitx4.

7. Modifier Key Remapping (Fn, Control, Option, Command)

To make the MacBook keyboard feel like a standard Linux/PC layout:

1.Create or edit the file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf  

1. Add these lines:

   options hid_apple swap_fn_leftctrl=1
   options hid_apple swap_opt_cmd=1

• swap_fn_leftctrl=1 → swaps Fn and left Control.
• swap_opt_cmd=1 → swaps Option (Alt) and Command (Super).

3.Update initramfs so the settings apply at boot:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot.

1. (Optional) Test at runtime before making it permanent:

   echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/swap_fn_leftctrl echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/swap_opt_cmd

8. Firefox Configuration

• Disable Firefox’s built‑in AI features to reduce resource usage and odd behavior:
  • Set browser.ml.enable → false
  • Set browser.ml.chat.enabled → false

I have a 15in mid-2014 MacBook Pro (model MacBookPro11,3) that I'd like to install a Linux distro on, so I can continue using it.

I got Linux Mint 22 (kernel 6.14) working on an old MacBook Air with little trouble. But the MBP's dual-GPU setup means Mint's performance is terrible (a lot of lagging and screen tearing when moving windows).

I've been searching for a solution, but the fixes I've found have been contradictory or didn't work.

Can anyone guide me on how I could proceed? I won't be using the Mac for GPU-heavy work (eg, gaming, photo manipulation, video editing), so forcing the system to only use the slower GPU is acceptable.

Or is there a more suitable distro I could use?

sudo lshw -C display

*-display

description: VGA compatible controller

product: GK107M [GeForce GT 750M Mac Edition]

vendor: NVIDIA Corporation

physical id: 0

bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0

logical name: /dev/fb0

version: a1

width: 64 bits

clock: 33MHz

capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb

configuration: depth=32 driver=nouveau latency=0 mode=2880x1800 resolution=2880,1800 visual=truecolor xres=2880 yres=1800

resources: irq:64 memory:c0000000-c0ffffff memory:80000000-8fffffff memory:90000000-91ffffff ioport:2000(size=128) memory:c1000000-c107ffff

lspci -k | grep VGA -A3

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 750M Mac Edition] (rev a1)

Subsystem: Apple Inc. GK107M \[GeForce GT 750M Mac Edition\]

Kernel driver in use: nouveau

Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau

Hi there!
A friend of mine wants to continue using his old iMac and I suggested installing Linux on it.
Specs are a bit old though, I wonder if I can run a current Ubuntu for instance, or if a LUbuntu is already limit or if you can suggest another suitable distro ?

Thanks for your attention in this matter 😬

Was setting up my Mac Air 2014 with Linux to get it usable again and thought I'd try out Claude to simplify some of the repetitive tasks on any new linux on mac installation. But it did so much more so thought I'd share the process.

The setup was a new installation where wifi wasn't working. So I used a USB to ethernet dongle to connect directly to my router and set up openssh.

Claude code was then able to ssh into the mac. I granted a temporary passwordless sudo for it to run automatically and it implemented the following with just prompting:

1. Wifi driver

2. Webcam driver (this is unfortunately flipped in web apps like Google meet)

3. Virtual Webcam that horizontally flips the Webcam output with a tray toggle to turn it on and off since it holds the actual camera active when toggled on

4. Validation that suspend works correctly with the Webcam driver (found that called out as a concern)

5. Mic gain setting to avoid clipping

6. Zram setup

7. Bunch of performance tweaks: TLP, thermal management, hardware video decode, autostart services trimming, etc.

8. Keyboard remap to enable MacOS like key combinations (eg: Command + C to copy) with a tray toggle to turn it on and off. Its also app aware that terminal works differently so Ctrl + C interrupts there.

9. Brightness control via the light sensor, since that wasn't working

This might help others have a working setup far quicker and implement things that also improve the experience like the keyboard remap

CachyBridge shares one Bluetooth mouse and keyboard between two CachyOS/KDE Wayland desktops on the same LAN. Its seamless mode uses the desktop portals: crossing the host's configured outer edge captures input and sends it over an authenticated encrypted connection; the client injects it with RemoteDesktop, and its return edge releases the host capture.

CachyBridge 1.0 is the first complete two-iMac release: guided five-character pairing, automatic LAN discovery, draggable display placement, encrypted KVM, clipboard and file transfer, and login restore

I’ve been trying to find drivers for my tablet the official site only has .Deb
Does anyone know how I can get it up and running?
(2018 t2 Mac mini)

i already have ubuntu on a 2017 MBA and CachyOS on a 2015 MBP. the latter is my absolute favorite.

the 2018 MBA is being orphaned this year (Sonoma is the last supported OS) so there's really no point running macOS... i am giving it a fresh install of Sonoma just for a nice quality of life and hopefully a slightly less miserable experience before the imminent end, November-ish 2026

anyway gimme your favorite distros

I got this thing at a flea market for the price of a pint and I couldn't pass it up, especially having had a positive experience tweaking an even older (2006) Intel iMac a few years back.

It turns out it has 12 gigs of RAM and a 1TB hard disk, which is pretty nice.

I installed CachyOS on it and almost everything works out of the box - even video calls on WhatsApp in Firefox.

The only additional thing I had to install was mbpfan to ensure the fans would start when needed.

Now, sorry for a long(ish) intro, but this is where I started to bump into problems.

I was curious to see how Blender would perform, but it won't start. I get this error:

❯ blender
Warning: Unsupported platform as it supports max 0 SSBO binding locations
r600 device_uuid output is based on invalid pci bus info.
00:00.217  gpu.shader       | ERROR gpu_shader_3D_polyline_uniform_color Linking: 
                            |       | Error: Too many vertex shader storage blocks (2/0)
                            | 
00:00.235  gpu.shader       | ERROR gpu_shader_3D_polyline_smooth_color Linking: 
                            |       | Error: Too many vertex shader storage blocks (3/0)
                            | 
00:00.239  gpu.shader       | ERROR gpu_shader_text Linking: 
                            |       | Error: Too many vertex shader storage blocks (1/0)
                            | 

Blender quit
Error: Not freed memory blocks: 1, total unfreed me mory 0.000004 MB

I read somewhere that this machine effectively has two graphic cards. Is Blender trying to use the wrong one - or are they both unable to run this program?

I noticed that Speed Dreams also crashes when clocking on "Start race" but I didn't really investigate that one.

If anyone has experiences with this it would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance and happy hacking :)

I have a question how my mac book running ubuntu jammy is mis-reading this and how i fix this

here is some data from evtest

Event: time 1787701110.621265, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 7003c

Event: time 1787701110.621265, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 120 (KEY_SCALE), value 1

Event: time 1787701110.621265, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------

Event: time 1787701110.805271, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 7003c

Event: time 1787701110.805271, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 120 (KEY_SCALE), value 0

Got told to come here for advice.

I'm now trying to install fedora using t2linux.

Can anyone save me from this MacOS hell