Introduction¶
Welcome to the t2linux wiki!
This wiki contains knowledge about running Linux on Macs with the T2 chip. A list of those devices can be found on Apple's website.
Warnings¶
- Kernel versions
5.8.x
and5.9.x
are considered in-development builds and should not be used due to issues from within the kernel and the init system. Currently well tested are the older5.7.19
as well as the currently stable5.10.12
and5.10.17
. - It is highly recommended that you use the stock Apple boot manager for all distributions, other boot managers like rEFInd have been known to cause issues.
Notable Resources¶
In general you can find most of the people involved on the Linux on T2 Macs (2018+) Discord Server, making it probably the most helpful and important resource of all.
Distributions¶
Different distributions are maintained by different people in their own repositories. Still more detailed or just different documentation about certain distributions might also be found here
- Ubuntu https://github.com/marcosfad/mbp-ubuntu
- Fedora https://github.com/mikeeq/mbp-fedora
- Arch https://github.com/aunali1/linux-mbp-arch
- Manjaro https://github.com/JPyke3/mbp-manjaro
Kernel Modules¶
Support for hardware is cross distro besides patches to the distribution specific kernel. The following repos contain kernel modules for said support.
- MacBook Bridge / T2 Linux Driver https://github.com/t2linux/apple-bce-drv
- Touchbar and Ambient Light https://github.com/t2linux/apple-ib-drv
Guides and similar¶
Note that if you are using one of the distributions listed above you should follow their install guides rather than the ones listed under this section. However they might still be important to gain a better general picture or to help with specific issues.
- State of Linux on the MacBook Pro https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux
- List of Mac Model Identifiers on everymac.com
- Using Luks with the intergrated keyboard https://github.com/DimitriDokuchaev/GrubLuksUnlock
- Patching and compiling a Kernel for T2 Devices https://github.com/DimitriDokuchaev/PatchingAndBuildingLinuxKernel
- Adding macOS like screenshot shortcuts to KDE Plasma https://gist.github.com/networkException/5a68299accc1872749c86301c1449690
- Disable thermal throttling (better performance but higher temperatures) https://github.com/yyearth/turnoff-BD-PROCHOT
- Experimental wifi support for mbp 16,1 https://github.com/jamlam/mbp-16.1-linux-wifi
Outdated
- Arch on 2018 MacBook Pro https://gist.github.com/TRPB/437f663b545d23cc8a2073253c774be3
- Ubuntu on 2016 MacBook Pro https://gist.github.com/gbrow004/096f845c8fe8d03ef9009fbb87b781a4
Notable Contributors¶
- aunali1 (Arch Linux and Kernel Module work) https://github.com/aunali1
- MCMrARM (MacBook Bridge / T2 Linux Driver) https://github.com/MCMrARM
- roadrunner2 (Touchbar and Ambient Light Driver) https://github.com/roadrunner2
- mikeeq (Fedora) https://github.com/mikeeq
- marcosfad (Ubuntu) https://github.com/marcosfad
- JPyke3 (Manjaro) https://github.com/JPyke3
... and many more