Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.3

Thunderbolt networking now works between Apple Silicon Macs running Linux, and you can connect USB devices via the ports.

Asahi Linux has released its progress report for Linux 7.3, detailing significant advancements in upstreaming drivers and device support for Apple Silicon hardware. The team successfully submitted major drivers for macaudio and avd, achieving a record-breaking turnaround for the latter. Initial device trees for M4, M5, and M-Pro/Max series chips are now available, with an increasing shift towards an upstream-first development approach. M3 support has moved from experimental to generally available, now enabling sleep and improving usability around the notch. The report also highlights breakthroughs in virtualizing macOS environments for reverse engineering on M4 and M5 devices, enabling the drawing of a triangle on the M3 GPU, and the initial upstreaming of Thunderbolt support. While core Thunderbolt functionality is present, PCIe and DisplayPort tunneling remain under development. Progress has also been made on gaming compatibility, addressing challenges with binary translation and memory page size differences.

The Asahi Linux project is demonstrating a maturing development process by successfully upstreaming key drivers like macaudio and avd, and adopting an upstream-first strategy for new hardware. This not only benefits the Linux kernel by integrating Apple Silicon support but also accelerates Asahi's own development cycle by reducing the need for downstream patches. The rapid integration of complex components like the AVD driver suggests a growing efficiency and a potential model for future hardware enablement projects.

The progress in reverse engineering macOS components, including the virtualization of Exclaves for M5 devices and the initialization of the M3 GPU, signals a deepening understanding of Apple's proprietary hardware and software. This capability could pave the way for more comprehensive Linux support on newer Apple hardware, potentially unlocking features previously unavailable or poorly supported, and offering valuable insights for the broader tech community interested in Apple's silicon architecture.