HACKER Q&A
📣 capableweb

How ready for daily driving is Asahi Linux?


Been lurking the GitHub issues, Twitter and blog but haven't really gained a full perspective.

I'm in the market for a new laptop, currently using a Carbon X1 which I'm generally very happy with. I'm only interested in laptops that I'd run Linux on, but been trying some of the late Apple MacBooks and like the hardware, just the software seems to get in the way sometimes.

So came across Asahi Linux project, which seems to be usable for daily work, minus some missing things.

But does anyone use Asahi Linux daily here and can talk about their experience?


  👤 notpushkin Accepted Answer ✓
No GPU means it gets pretty hot sometimes (don't even try watching videos, I've literally burned myself :'). Otherwise I'd say I could use it as a daily driver: a bit clunky, needs some tinkering, but everything I personally need (VSCodium, Firefox, Docker, wifi, audio in the headphones) already works and works well.

If you already have a MacBook you could use, just give it a try – you can dual-boot, so if it doesn't work you can go back to macOS and try it out again in a couple months.

UPD: and of course, don't forget to sponsor the developers! Every little bit counts.


👤 pimeys
You might want to check the new ThinkPad Z13 and Z16 models with latest Ryzen CPU. You get similar performance and battery life as you'd expect from an M1.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Z13-laptop-rev...

No need to change the CPU architecture.


👤 bestouff
Hint: it's not.

I'm not asking much though: I just need a linux laptop which is fast (lots of rust compilations) and can stay for a whole day unplugged. Thunderbolt connectivity to dock it at home (and use bigger screens) would be perfect. I don't need the GPU, I'm mainly using the terminal and the CPU in fast enough for that.

But it's not even there: the CPU is heating even when doing nothing, the laptop doesn't sleep when closed (so the battery is draining too fast) , and thunderbolt is still far away.

But under some conditions it's nice, even nicer than the XPS 15 i9 I had before. I'm giving some undisclosed amount to marcan monthly, and I hope it'll be "usable" (for me) soon.


👤 worldsavior
In my opinion, not ready enough, but usable. Speakers are still not safe to use, no use of security components, no Touch-ID, no GPU support, no mics and many more[1].

Though its still very impressive what they got so far, and hope in the near future it will become a full functioning OS.

[1] https://github.com/AsahiLinux/docs/wiki/Feature-Support


👤 rowanG077
It really depends what you need. The basics are working: USB2, wifi, bt, kb, track pad, 3.5mm jack. So it's definitely usable.

Om the other hand there are tons of features that are not ready. GPU, external display (allthough these are relatively close to), speakers, video encoder/decoder, USB3, thunderbolt, deep sleep states and more.

Whether it's ready is a very subjective question on what features you consider essential to have. Personally I will wait until GPU, USB3, thunderbolt and external displays work since I use those constantly.


👤 nkobber
Many features are not supported yet. For example adjusting screen brightness, internal speakers and power management.

Have a look at https://github.com/AsahiLinux/docs/wiki/Feature-Support


👤 yewenjie
Related question: does anybody exclusively use any Linux distro on MacBooks in a VM? What is the tradeoff and how is your experience?

I want the MacBooks for the battery backup, but I cannot live without NixOS, and seems like Asahi is still a few months away.


👤 sirwhinesalot
I'm waiting for it to stabilise a bit more, but I'm quite pleased with UTM + a Linux VM. Hopefully we'll get more ARM support in Linux distros, I really hate snaps but otherwise Ubuntu works the best so far in my experience.

👤 lordgroff
Context: first laptop in circa 20 years that doesn't run Linux (m1 air).

I don't like OSX and after a year I'm still not really used to it. But... It's still a much better choice to deal with it than Asahi right now (emphasis on right now, I expect it will get there and I will gladly use it at that point). No GPU, no sleep, no audio, no real power management. If you need arm Linux for something concrete, VM is the way to go right now unfortunately.


👤 cwaffles
How is the battery life on Asahi (eg 16in MBP)? I'm debating this versus the HP Elitebook 865[0], which has 64GB ram, top spec Ryzen, and a 72whr battery. They claim 22h battery life, and 13h of youtube playback.

[0]: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/mdp/hp-elitebook-865


👤 not1ofU
If you are in EU, you might be interested in this

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/

I am not affiliated, but recently purchased one and very happy with it.


👤 jnk345u8dfg9hjk
Can anyone comment on battery life in the current state of things?

👤 rvz
It is not ready for daily driving (yet).

To save your time. That is the answer.