Ubuntu Now Runs on Apple Silicon, Devs Say It’s ‘Completely Usable’

Developers at ARM virtualisation company Corellium have managed to get Ubuntu 20.04 up and running on the new Apple Silicon Mac Mini.

And we’re not talking ‘it boots and prints a load of text’ running here. No, this is the full Ubuntu desktop experience — and it’s already being described as “completely usable”!

Linux is now 'fully usable' on Apple Silicon M1 Macs

Security researchers at Corellium have ported a version of Linux to the Apple Silicon M1 chip that will ultimately be released under an open-source license.

The Linux version is a full Ubuntu desktop operating system booted from a USB, according to Corellium Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade. Although details are scarce, he said that Linux is now "completely usable" on Apple Silicon machines.

Initial Patches Posted For Bringing Up The Linux Kernel On Apple Silicon M1 Hardware

Following a very active past couple of days, developers from security startup Corellium have followed through on their word so far of publishing the Apple Silicon patches to the Linux kernel mailing list for possible upstreaming in the future that allow the Linux kernel to boot with Apple M1 hardware.

Corellium developers sent out their first set of seven patches under a "request for comments" flag this morning. These are the minimal changes needed for getting Linux to boot on the current Apple M1 ARM-based hardware.

Linux on the Apple M1 takes another step closer with Ubuntu working thanks to Corellium

ARM virtualization company Corellium has managed to get Ubuntu Linux running on the next-generation Apple M1.

The news comes from Corellium CEO, Chris Wade, who mentioned on Twitter how "Linux is now completely usable on the Mac mini M1. Booting from USB a full Ubuntu desktop (rpi). Network works via a USB c dongle. Update includes support for USB, I2C, DART. We will push changes to our GitHub and a tutorial later today.".

Impressive speedy work, and a separate project to the recently revealed Asahi Linux which is also aiming to do the same thing. Two heads are better than one, as they say. The Corellium team mentioned on Twitter they full back the Asahi project too, so it's wonderful to see true cooperation.

Right now this effort doesn't appear to have full GPU acceleration so it's doing software rendering, making it less suitable for a daily driver but work is ongoing towards that. Eventually everything will be in place, and it's taking far less time than I personally expected to see it running on such brand new hardware from Apple.

Linux now 'completely usable' on M1 Mac mini

The initial announcement came with a warning that the "very early" beta was for "advanced users only", and that USB support and a more complete release was on the way.

As Wade has now noted, users can now boot from USB to a full Ubuntu desktop.

Security researchers have ported Ubuntu Linux for Apple Silicon M1 hardware

Corellium’s CTO Chris Wade on Wednesday tweeted two photos of Ubuntu’s Groovy Gorilla running on the Mac Mini M1, adding that it was “completely usable” after booting from a ‘live’ USB drive.

Apple M1 Macs can now run Ubuntu Linux thanks to Corellium

The sheer impressive power of the Apple Silicon M1 processor has made developers, hackers, and tinkerers daydream about possible use cases beyond what Apple intended or would even allow. Some have already gotten Windows to run on it, in a virtualized environment fashion, of course. Now a few security researchers have also figured out how to run Linux directly on the hardware, albeit with a few catches that could still make it not that useful for a daily driver for Linux users.

‘Completely Usable’ M1 Mac Version of Ubuntu Linux Now Available

ARM software virtualization company Corellium has released a “completely usable” version of Ubuntu Linux that runs on M1 Macs. Corellium CTO Chris Wade announced the release early this morning.

Security researchers at the company have developed a port that has been released on GitHub with an installation tutorial is said to be coming later today.

Ubuntu has been ported to Mac M1 devices

Many Mac users utilize a dual-boot setup with their devices. However, that hasn’t been possible for the Mac M1, at least until now. A (very) barebones version of Ubuntu can now dual-boot on M1-powered Macs, though most will want to hold off on installing it for now.

M1 Macs can now run full version of Linux thanks to new Corellium port

Since the new M1 Macs were announced, developers have been working to run different operating systems on the Apple Silicon platform, including Windows and Linux. Now, thanks to Corellium, it’s possible to run Ubuntu — a popular Linux distro — on new Macs with M1 chip.

The announcement was made on Twitter by Corellium’s CTO Chris Wade. Corellium offers solutions for virtualization of ARM devices and platforms, and it was recently involved in a lawsuit with Apple regarding a tool that lets users virtualize iOS.

You can now run Linux on Apple M1 devices

Developers from security startup Corellium have revealed they managed to get Linux running on Apple's Arm-based M1 devices natively.

While Linux, and even Windows, were already usable on Apple Silicon thanks to virtualization, this is the first instance of a non-macOS operating system running natively on the hardware.

“Linux is now completely usable on the Mac mini M1. Booting from USB a full Ubuntu desktop (rpi),” wrote Corellium’s CTO Chris Wade on Twitter while sharing pictures of Ubuntu's Raspberry Pi ARMv8 desktop image booting on Apple M1 hardware.

Linux has been ported to run on Apple’s M1 Macs

A new Linux port allows Apple’s M1 Macs to run Ubuntu for the first time. Corellium, a security firm that offers a virtualized version of iOS for security testing, has successfully ported Ubuntu over to M1 Macs and released a tutorial for others to follow. The modified version of Ubuntu boots into the regular user interface and includes USB support.

The team at Corellium have detailed exactly how they managed to get Ubuntu running, and it’s a good in-depth read if you’re interested in the details. While a number of M1 components are shared with Apple’s mobile chips, the non-standard chips made it challenging to create Linux drivers to get Ubuntu running properly.

Corellium ports Linux to Apple M1 Mac mini

I was sure that Linux would eventually run on Apple's ARM-based M1 CPU. After all, Linux has been ported to essentially every processor on the planet. Even without Apple's co-operation, it would only be a matter of time. I'd assumed it would take a year or so. I was wrong. Correllium, a company specializing in ARM virtualization and developer tools, has successfully ported Linux to Apple's new M1-powered Mac mini.

[...]

For now, only people who really know Linux should be trying this out. Wade said that binary files and a how-to document are being worked on. For the moment, you must still compile the linux-M1 code yourself.

That done, you can boot your M1 Mac mini from a USB stick into a full Ubuntu Linux desktop. For networking, you'll also need a USB-C dongle. More work is being done, even as I write this, to include better USB and I2C serial communications protocol.

Behind the scenes, the M1 Linux port is based on work done in Corelliums' Project Sandcastle. This was a project to get Android and Linux running on iPhones.

In short, although the M1 is a new chip, with its work on iPhone chipsets Corellium was already digging the foundations for Linux on M1. That's because "many of the devices on the SoC [System on a Chip] didn't change from the programmers' perspective."

How We Ported Linux to the M1

When Apple released their desktop products with the M1 processor in November 2020, quite a few people in the tech community were surprised by the excellent performance of these systems. But those who have been following the development of Apple phone chipsets closely knew that the evolutionary path Apple followed would result in a powerful 64-bit ARM processor.

At Corellium, we've been tracking the Apple mobile ecosystem since iPhone 6, released in 2014 with two 64-bit cores. Since then, Apple has been focusing their energy on building faster chips, preferring to improve single-threaded performance over throwing more cores on the chip. This approach was enabled by their in-house hardware design team, and resulted in unique parts with a broad feature set, leading the industry in terms of architectural features.

It also made Apple silicon rather distinct from all other 64-bit ARM hardware in terms of both CPU core and peripherals. Our Corellium virtualization platform has been providing security researchers with unparalleled insight into how operating systems and programs work on Apple ARM processors. But in the process of developing our virtualization system, we also gain knowledge about the hardware we are modeling, and this knowledge can be best refined by testing it against real hardware - which we have only been able to do with the emergence of checkm8, an exploit that let us load programs onto Apple smartphones. This led directly to the Sandcastle project, where we built a kernel port to the A10 processor in early 2020.

Finally! Linux Runs Gracefully On Apple M1 Chip

Apple’s M1 chip is continuously in the buzz because of its impressive capability of monstrous performance on their own ARM-based MacBook and Mac Mini.

And, for that reason, many Linux users want to get their hands on them. But without proper Linux support, it would be a nightmare.

While Linus Torvalds didn’t have high hopes for this to happen, it looks like Corellium – a company who specializes with ARM device virtualization has finally made it possible.

In a tweet by Chris Wade (CTO of Corellium), he mentions that Linux is completely usable on a Mac Mini M1. Before you blindly grab a device with Apple Silicon, let me tell you more about it.

Ubuntu Linux is now running on M1 Macs | Ars Technica

We still have a way to go before easily dual-booting Linux and macOS.

We turn away for a second and Corellium is already showing off Ubuntu on Apple Silicon

Those with pockets deep enough to spring for Apple's latest and greatest and a desire to avoid macOS can follow a relatively straightforward guide from Corellium on getting the Raspberry Pi image of Ubuntu 20.10 up and running. "We used a Raspberry Pi image because it was a live USB boot image, so we only had to make minor modifications to boot it," the team explained.

Corellium also paid tribute to the team behind PongoOS – a pre-boot execution environment for Apple boards – "for contributing their expertise and collaboration".

An RFC has been submitted to upstream with a view to review and potentially include the changes for a minimal Linux on Apple Silicon boot. The latest patches were pushed to the GitHub repo late yesterday.

There are alternatives in the works too. The Asahi Linux project notwithstanding, virtualization is also an option.

‘Completely Usable’ Version of Linux for M1 Macs Released

Corellium CTO Chris Wade has announced today that Ubuntu Linux is now completely installable and usable on the new M1 Macs. Researchers at the company have developed and released a port through which you can install Linux for M1 Macs. Apple announced the first batch of its custom silicon Macs last year which includes the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. If you're a die-hard Linux user, you can now give it a swing on your new M1 Mac.

Corellium Releases 'Completely Usable' Version of Linux for M1 Macs

Ubuntu Linux is installable and functional on M1 Macs thanks to work done by Corellium, Corellium CTO Chris Wade announced early this morning. Security researchers at the company have developed a port that has been released on GitHub with an installation tutorial coming later today.

Corellium Successfully Runs Ubuntu Linux on M1 Mac

Corellium has announced it has Ubuntu Linux running on an M1 Mac, in what is described as a “completely usable” experience.

Mac computers are popular options for Linux users and developers. Many want to combine their operating system (OS) of choice with machines that are widely considered to be among the best industrial designs in the business.

With Apple moving to its own custom silicon, however, there was doubt about the future of Linux on Macs. Apple’s new M1 chip is an ARM-based designed, similar to what the company has been running in iPhones and iPads for years.

Even Linus Torvalds has said he would love to run one of the new M1 Macs, but wasn’t optimistic it could run Linux.

M1 Mac now supports an Ubuntu port

The chips are based on ARM architecture, same as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV processors. The change means that the new M1 Macs will not support the use of Bootcamp which is used to install Windows alongside macOS or even flavours of Linux. However, to rescue, a security firm named Corellium has successfully ported Ubuntu to M1 Macs.

Ubuntu Linux finally bootable on Apple M1 Mac

It has been a while since Apple’s new M1 Mac PC was launched. But now reports have surfaced that everyone’s favourite Ubuntu Linux is completely installable and usable on the new M1 Macs. According to sources, various developers working on the project have released a port through which you can install Linux for M1 Macs.

Corellium’s Chris Wade announced the Linux port for M1 Macs on Twitter earlier today. But since it’s just an initial port there are indeed a lot of limitations. Let not forget that the M1 Mac comes with apples new silicon and is generally new in the market.

Someone Got Linux Up And Running On An M1 Mac Mini

Not a fan of Apple’s macOS operating system but like the new M1 hardware that accompanies it? Then maybe installing a different operating system could be the answer, and no, we’re not talking about Windows. Thanks to the team at Corellium, it appears that they have managed to get Linux up and running on the M1 powered Mac mini.

According to Corellium’s Chief Technology Office Chris Wade, this is a full version of the Ubuntu desktop operating system that has been booted from a USB drive. While Wade does not dive into the details, he does claim that the version of Linux they installed is “completely usable” on Apple Silicon computers.

You can run Linux on an M1 Mac if you have the patience | Engadget

Corellium has successfully run Ubuntu Linux on Apple's M1 Macs, although you'll need a USB drive and some know-how to make it work.

Someone ported Linux to the new Arm-based Mac Mini

Running Linux on Intel-based Macs is relatively easy. Now that Apple is transitioning to its own silicon, it is no longer so straightforward. Although the M1 SoCs are Arm-based processors, and there are Arm versions of Linux available, components on the new Apple chips don't play well with current Linux distos.

Apple has not made dual-booting easy on its newest Arm-based computers. While there are Linux distros designed to run on Arm hardware, Apple silicon is a different breed. However, Security researchers at Corellium have a working Linux port for Apple's M1 Macs.

The operating system Corellium developed is an Arm-based Ubuntu distro that boots from a USB drive, but it is not as simple as plug-and-play. The main hurdle to getting Linux running on the M1 is hardware drivers.

How Linux was ported to the Apple Silicon M1 Mac mini

Linux now works on the Mac mini with M1 processor — but Apple did not make it easy for the team to port the OS with its custom firmware and unique data paths. Here's how Corellium got it done.

Now that Linux is fully usable on Macs with M1 processors the team at Corellium has detailed their process for porting the OS.

In Thursday's post, Corellium says that they have been studying Apple's custom processors since the iPhone 6 released in 2014. The company used some exploits and the previous study to build a kernel port to the A10 processor in early 2020.

Apple released the Macs with M1 processor in November 2020. A follow-on OS update enabled users to install custom kernels. Following the addition of that ability, the Corellium team began working on a Linux port.

Corellium Details How to Install Linux on Your M1 Mac

Corellium releases “fully usable” Linux build for Apple Silicon-based Macs - O'Grady's PowerPage

This portends some good things to come for operating systems that can run on new Apple Silicon hardware.

A group of security researchers at Corellium have ported a version of Linux to the Apple Silicon M1 chip that will ultimately be released under an open-source license.

The Linux version is a full Ubuntu desktop operating system that can be booted from a USB device, per Corellium’s Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade. While details as presently scarce, Wade has stated that Linux is now “completely usable” on Apple Silicon hardware.

You can now run Linux on your M1-equipped Mac, kind of

Apple’s new M1 powered Macs have blisteringly fast speed, but only if you want to use macOS. Windows support might be a ways off, but if you want to tinker with Linux there’s now a port for Ubuntu to run on the new ARM-powered Macs.

Security firm Corellium knows a thing or two about virtualization on Apple devices, as they offer a virtualized version of iOS for security testing purposes. Now they’ve managed to port Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions, to run on the new M1 Macs. Even better, they’ve laid out exactly what you need to do if you want to have a go yourself.

Linux can now be run on the Mac Mini with Apple Silicon

Ever since Apple launched its new Macs with the company’s new high-performance ARM chips, third-party software developers have been hard at work getting alternative operating systems up and running on the new hardware. Early last month, a few developers booted Windows 10 and Fedora Linux on an M1 Mac via virtualization, but the biggest breakthrough in alternative OS development for M1 Macs has come from the team at Corellium, a firm that specializes in ARM device virtualization. The team has managed to port Linux and make it “completely usable” on the M1 Mac Mini.

M1 Mac gets Ubuntu Linux port release

Chris Wade, CTO of Corellium has announced via tweet that M1 Macs will be getting a functional Ubuntu Linux port. The software will be released on GitHub and will include a tutorial for those who are interested.

Ubuntu Linux Now Runs On Apple M1 Silicon Macs, What To Expect And How To Prepare

One of the more pragmatic aspects of Intel-powered Macs was their ability to run alternative operating systems, including Windows and Linux, without much effort at all. Apple even included a Windows preparation tool, Boot Camp, on all of its systems with Intel Core processors. With the advent of Apple Silicon Macs (such as the recent Mac mini) that have the company's M1 SoC under the hood, Apple discontinued Boot Camp. Those systems had been locked into macOS 11 Big Sur, but thanks to Arm-based virtual cloud device maker Corellium, Ubuntu Linux is now "completely usable."

Arm offers an array of licenses to its architecture that range from processor licenses, in which a chip vendor can whole hog plug modules of Arm CPU cores into a chip, to the more abstracted architecture license, which is what Apple uses to develop custom Arm64 CPUs for its own devices. Being an architecture licensee, Apple is beholden to nobody in the way that its chips implement the ISA and boot an operating system. According to Corellium, those implementation differences are what made it a bit more difficult to get running Ubuntu. In a series of tweets, Corellium's Chief Technical Officer Chris Wade recently showed off Ubuntu running on an Apple M1-powered Mac mini, so we felt compelled to explore it a little ourselves as well.

Corellium has ported Linux to Apple’s M1-based Macs

When Apple first announced the M1 chip, many people were interested in seeing macOS running on ARM instead of Intel-based hardware. Due to the change, Macs were seemingly bound to macOS and Apple’s walled garden rules, but one Linux development group has found a way around this, enabling Ubuntu OS to run on M1 powered Macs.

Corellium is a start-up company specialising in virtualisation and emulation of ARM-based platforms. Using its expertise in these areas, the company has created a “completely usable” version of Linux for Apple’s M1-powered devices. In the tweet posted by Chris Wade, the CTO of Corellium showed photos of a Mac Mini M1 running a version of Ubuntu.

Run Linux on Apples M1 processor using new Corellium port

Since the availability and launch of Apples new M one silicon chip, calipers have been working hard to run different operating systems on the platform with the most obvious being Windows and Linux. Today thanks to Corellium, owners of new MacBooks by the latest silicon M1 chips can now run the Ubuntu Linux operating system. Corellium’s CTO Chris Wade made the announcement via Twitter explaining that the Corellium development team has been able to bring Linux to the Apple M1 Macs using a modified version of Ubuntu that supports the full user interface, in addition to USB, I2C, and DART. Although don’t expect everything to be supported as the project is still in its beta release at the moment. The 9to5Mac website explains more.

“For instance, you’ll probably need a USB-C dongle to use the network when booted into Linux, not to mention that there’s no hardware acceleration for now. Even so, it’s very interesting to see that they managed to run a full version of Linux on the new Macs with ARM-based chips — and the project is still in beta.”

You can run Linux on an M1 Mac if you have the patience

Lilbits: Linux on Apple Silicon and the uncertain future of the LG Rollable smartphone

Apple launched the first Macs with Apple Silicon a few months ago, delivering a big boost in performance while also reducing power consumption. One downside of Apple’s switch from Intel processors to its own ARM-based custom chips though, is that you can no longer easily install Windows alongside macOS using Boot Camp, and for a while there was no easy way to install GNU/Linux distributions either.

But this week developers at ARM virtualization company Corellium announced that they’d ported Linux to run on a Mac Mini with an Apple M1 chip. Corellium CTO Chris Wade says the team’s proof of concept build of Ubuntu (based on a version made to run on Raspberry Pi computers) is “completely usable,” and boots a “full Ubuntu desktop” from a USB flash drive.

You can presently operate Linux on Apple M1 machines

The Creators from security startup, Corellium have disclosed that they governed to bring Linux operating on Apple’s Arm founded M1 appliances natively.

As Linux, and Windows, were already available on Apple Silicon owing to virtualization, this is the very initial example of those non macOS operating systems (O.S) operating on the hardware.

The CTO of Corellium, Chris Wade stated earlier on Twitter that Linux is presently entirely available on the Mac mini M1. Booting it from USB an entire Ubuntu desktop computer (rpi), whereas trading the images of Ubuntu’s Raspberry Pi ARMv8 desktop computer picture booting on Apple M1 machine.

Ubuntu Linux is currently operating on M1 Macs

For the first time, clients of Apple Silicon Macs utilizing Apple’s M1 chip, for example, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air—would now be able to boot in to and natively run Linux.

The vintage at play here is Ubuntu, and the port was created by Corellium, which in any case virtualizes iOS and other ARM-based OSes to empower simpler security testing. It’s important also that Apple has recently sued the organization over said iOS security testing tool. The lawsuit didn’t turn out well for Apple.

Corellium Chief Technology Office Chris Wade declared the culmination of the cooperation on Twitter yesterday. What’s more, in a blog post on Corellium’s site, the group behind the port writes that it was created in corresponding with the group’s efforts at “creating a model of the [M1] for our security research part.”

Apple M1 Macs can now run the full version of Linux

A new Linux port allows Apple’s Mac M1s to run Ubuntu for the first time. Corellium, a security company that provides a virtualized version of iOS for security testing, has successfully ported Ubuntu to the M1 Macs and posted a tutorial for others to follow. The modified version of Ubuntu boots into the normal user interface and includes USB support.

The Corellium team have detailed how they got Ubuntu to work, and it’s a good in-depth article if you’re interested in the details. Although some M1 components are shared with Apple’s mobile chips, non-standard chips have made it difficult to create Linux drivers to make Ubuntu work properly.

Apple didn’t design its M1 Macs with dual boot or Boot Camp in mind. Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, previously ruled out official support for startup alternative operating systems such as Windows or Linux. Virtualization seems to be Apple’s preferred method, but that hasn’t stopped people from creating their own ports.