Asahi Linux brings support for AAA gaming to Apple Silicon Macs running Linux
by Brad Linder · LiliputingWhen Apple’s laptop and desktop computers were shipping with Intel processors, it was relatively easy to port GNU/Linux distributions to run on Apple hardware. Things got trickier when the company switched to designing its own chips in-house. But the folks behind the Asahi Linux team have been busy reverse engineering Apple’s M series processors for almost as long as they’ve been available.
It’s been possible to run Linux on newer MacBooks and Mac desktops for a while, but some hardware features are still unavailable or considered works in progress (like Thunderbolt support or DisplayPort Alt Mode functionality). One thing you can now do on Apple Silicon Macs running Asahi Linux though? Play some AAA games.
The Fedora Asahi Remix GNU/Linux distribution is now shipping with alpha versions of OpenGL, OpenCL, and Vulkan graphics drivers that allow you to play some games on Macs with M1 or M2 series processors. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
One is that most of the PC games you’re likely going to want to play are designed to run on Windows PCs with DirectX drivers and x86 processors. So there’s some emulation required to get them to run on Macs with ARM-based processors, a Linux-based operating system, and Vulkan drivers.
Some of the work was also made possible by the folks at Valve, who developed the Proton software that allows many PC games to run on Linux. And during a live demo at XDC 2024, developer Alyssa Rosenzweig demonstrated the Steam game client loading and running on an Apple Silicon Mac running Asahi Linux.
For that reason, it takes a lot of RAM – according to the Asahi team, “most games require 16GB of memory due to emulation overhead.” So you’re probably not going to be able to do much entry-level gaming on an entry-level Mac with just 8GB of RAM.
Some of the titles that have been confirmed to be playable include Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Control, Portal 2, and Ghostrunner. But there’s a difference between playable and smooth. Developers say performance improvements will be required before “newer AAA titles” can run at 60 frames per second or higher. But less demanding games like Hollow Knight should run at full speed.