I’m looking for an Apple MacBook Air M2 alternative that could run Linux.
I need something fanless, super lightweight with very long battery life. The only apps I use are Shotcut video editor, Chrome and Firefox.
Any advice?
Is it a good idea to get a MacBook Air m2 and use something like Asahi Linux or should I wait for arm linux laptops to become available.
Apple silicon is in no way a ‘quantum leap’ over anything. Even arm’s general efficiency in low power situations diminish as it enters ultrabook territory
Because it doesn’t use x86. It also costs twice as much compared to other arm based laptops, because Apple.
Where did you pull that from? Both amd and Intel has 20W class cpus that compete with base m-series cpus while being based on older nodes
The only company that can achieve that kind of efficiency is Apple. I say this as a proud Apple hater.
It is not about efficiency, we already know for some time that x86 is not really efficient compared to newer architectures like arm and risc.
But no other ecosystem exists that can force such an architecture move without much much more problems.
So i would rephrase it as “The only company that can force that kind of fundamental change on its user and developers is Apple”
I am not saying it is a bad thing (just alone the rosetta translate layer is actually really impressive). Would love to have some actually good and mainstream arm options such as Linux Laptop.
Microsoft is trying the same - but royally screwing up how they deal with hardware partners. Performance wise the snapdragons they use are roughly a decade behind what Apple is doing - I have both systems for work projects.
The x86 emulation in Windows is imo better solved than rosetta - but the rest of the stack is a mess. For example, the deployment tools only got arm support a few months ago.
And Linux support on those things sucks - while using it on the M1 is great.
Snapdragon Elite is going to be a rather sizeable step forward, thanks to the Nuvia purchase. Windows on ARM exclusivity is also going to end in 2025, and apparently both AMD and Nvidia are going to have chips ready. I’m hoping Lenovo and/or Dell will put some effort into Linux support once we have better chips, and that the likes of System76, Framework, and Starlabs are able to release ARM models.
it’s a “quantum leap” only in the original scientific meaning of “the smallest distance something can possibly move”
The entire concept of “quantum” is that it’s the smallest possible unit.
A “quantum leap” is the smallest measurable change in electrical charge.
The Planck length, based (it’s a long story, links below) on that smallest possible charge, is around 1.61×10−35 m. (That’s 0.00…00161, with about 31 more zeroes). Which is about as much societal/technical progress as I think Apple has made.
https://www.snexplores.org/article/explainer-quantum-world-super-small https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/06/26/what-is-the-smallest-possible-distance-in-the-universe/?sh=518af32248a1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units
I have an M1 MBA and it runs Asahi just fine, for the most part. And it should suit you well too, since you’re only going to use basic apps. Even if there are some limitations currently, you could always run Linux inside a VM such as UTM.
But may I ask why do you want to run Linux, when you’re going to use only those three apps? Objectively, Linux wouldn’t be offering you much in your use case, and in fact if battery life is your primary concern, you’d be better off sticking with macOS. Another option could be a Chromebook.
But may I ask why do you want to run Linux
If I had to guess, it’s because Linux doesn’t suck.
I use Asahi too, and at the moment the killing factor is battery depletion while sleeping (50% a day!). Performance wise, working with kdenlive is about on par with an i7 12th gen Intel chip (direct comparison between Thinkpad X1 i7 16g ram 2023 and mbp m2pro 16g ram) - nothing close to the power macos can leverage from the m chip but still perfectly usable. But frustrating in a way.
If you install Asahi, it will be dualboot by default - why not trying it out? The install process is a delight, very well explained.
As for hardware, the Air is pretty unique. There are other fanless stuff out there, but it’s gonna be cheap netbooks without the power to handle video work.
I’d say give Asahi a try ; I love booting mine in front of people and looking at their confused faces when I spin the cube to move a wobbly window around (Though the big Fedora logo at startup is a bit of a giveaway)!
Edit: also, you already own the hardware. Stop wasting money/resources, jut make it do what you want.
Chromebooks or macbooks are your best bet. I believe top of the line Chromebooks are actually very good. If you put Linux on them they’ll be very capable.
Don’t buy a Chromebook for linux. While driver support usually isn’t an issue, the alternative keyboard layout is terrible for most applications. To even get access to all of the normal keys that many applications expect you need to configure multi-key shortcuts which varies in complexity based on your DE. In most cases it will also void your warranty because of the custom firmware requirement.
That’s true. I did see a video of some developers making top of the line Chromebooks run Linux, you may need to do further research on it. Check out if your device is supported :
https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices
Cool video I saw on chromebook linux gaming
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/7HFIQi835wY
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I think best for you is one of these: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Linux-Hardware/Linux-Notebooks/Alle.tuxedo#1349,1385;1885,1975
My sister has a tuxedo for work and it is ducking awesome! She told me, that there are ARM tuxedos, but I was not able to find them in my short research. Don’t hesitate to ask tuxedo directly, they have great support 😇
Used to be the best way to get performant graphics on Linux.
Like, 8 years ago.
I don’t like apple as a company and their attitude towards repair makes it so i feel obligated to never recommend one of their products, but if you need it to be fanless, a macbook air is prolly your only really good option, honestly though an m1 should be just fine (I’m assuming your video editing workloads are pretty light), also i recommend checking out Just Josh on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHm9ai5zSb-yfRnnUBopAg, he has some great laptop reviews
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/channel/UCtHm9ai5zSb-yfRnnUBopAg
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
