Linux runs without virtualization on the M1 Mac?

Chris Ade, CTO of Corellium, a Delaware-based company, announced that he has ported a fully usable Linux for the M1 Mac. It also announced that it will be released on GitHub along with the installation manual.

He said on Twitter that the full desktop version of Ubuntu can be launched via USB. Network function is also operated via USB Type C dongle, and USB, I2C, DART are also supported. Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem that all of the M1 Mac features can be used yet, as GPU acceleration is not supported.

Cholerium is a software developer that originally focused on ARM and provides tools such as security research and application program testing. In 2020, it attracted attention as Project Sandcastle, which can install Android on an existing iPhone.

The company has a bad rap with Apple, and Apple has alleged copyright infringement in a lawsuit by providing a tool to run virtual iOS devices in a browser. Anyway, it is a huge step forward to be able to run Linux operations directly on the M1 Mac in a situation where it was limited to a virtual environment. Related information can be found here .