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.

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. Thanks to the @CorelliumHQ team ❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/uBDbDmvJUG

— Chris Wade (@cmwdotme) January 20, 2021

As per Chris Wade, the Ubuntu OS was booting directly from the USB interface and it already supports AIC, UART, SMP, USB, I2C, and DART. There are still some limitations in this distro, such as network connectivity only working through a USB-C dongle and GPU acceleration isn’t supported yet.

If you are interested in running Linux on a device equipped with an M1 chip, you can check Corellium’s project on GitHub HERE. A proper tutorial to get everything up and running should be made available soon.

KitGuru says: Do you own a new M1 Mac? Are you tempted to dual-boot with another OS? 

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