I Regret Nothing - Linux on a MacBook

I've converted my gaming PC to Linux Also... • I Ditched Windows On M...
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[@NickTarterOKC]

I did this on my old iMac and it is substantially faster than it was running MacOS. It is back to being my daily driver for my office. It is amazing how well Linux does on these older machines.

[@apistosig4173]

old unsupported Imacs - max out the ram, insert SSD and install Linux Mint - mint runs flawlessly on the old machines

[@MrShalvayez]

I installed Solus on my old iMac. Runs quite a bit more smoothly, now.

[@apistosig4173]

@@MrShalvayez Yeah - Mint functions flawlessly - I chose Mint coz' these machines are headed to Linux newbies

[@DualWieldingDad]

Update: A software update bricked Ubuntu today 😢 Back to the drawing board and maybe a sequel video!

[@muzafferturhan]

Can i get the pass boss

[@Carlosmtz57]

I am thinking about doing this to my old 2015 MacBook Air. Waiting for an update video or what would you recommend.

[@dantoti657]

sorry to hear that. I tried LM and Ubuntu on a 2015 Air, but went back to macOS because they don't have camera drivers and I need it for Zoom. If you now anything about fixing that would be awesome. New sub to your channel.... Thank you!!

[@that_leaflet]

In the video I noticed you were using an icon theme used in Pop!_OS, by any chance did you add a Pop!_OS PPA/repository to your system? That could easily break Ubuntu.

[@ravisarkaria2928]

@@dantoti657 I have been having the same problem with the camera on my 2015 Air too :/

[@stevejohnson1321]

2017 is astoundingly "new" to me, as my main system runs an i7 2600.

[@Pantherman1979]

Just a few weeks ago, I bought a used Macbook Air (A1466) For $100 and loaded Debian on it, same story; had to tether the phone to make it work with the internet so I get the drivers to get WiFi to work. I've only got 256Gig SSD (upgraded from the 128Gig that it came with). If you plan on upgrading the SSD, you can do it with an NVME and a $7 adapter from Amazon. 4Gigs RAM soldered to the board and I forget what the CPU is. I take it with me when i need a computer on the go away from home. I installed lightweight desktop environments on it like XFCE,LXLE and LXQT. It works pretty good with those. Running Htop; the OS itself; XFCE only takes about 815 Megs and that leaves me 3 gigs and some change before it needs to touch a swapfile. Overall, I am pleased with it.

[@ijhuana]

Remember to disable startup sound before deleting Apple partition!

[@minininer8976]

Lol. You got me. I revived a 2006 MacBook with Linux Mint. (I’m an old guy with no tech skills.) It’s running and working well after being idle for 10+ years. The only thing I hate is the Apple startup sound!! 😅 Next time ...👍

[@kyle9777]

Linux mint and Kubuntu with plasma desktop are one of my favorites

[@DualWieldingDad]

Cool to see folks still stopping by 👋 maybe I’ll do a follow-up here at some point. Still using this macbook as part of my KZbin workflow. 💻

[@masoncnc]

Getting ready to do the swap. How hard were the network drivers?

[@pstrizle9000]

Please click the install 3rd party video and wifi drivers drivers button during setup at the 2 min 56 seconds mark of this video to avoid giving yourself the unnecessary headaches that happened in this vid involving wifi cutting out. he did not checkbox this button. This checkbox is easy to miss at 2m56s. As long as u click that yur good to go ...good to go other than uninstalling every single preinstalled snap and then reinstall the non snap lagged good version... or find yurself installing a different distro that is non snapped to its core cause u precalculated that this would have been faster than installing ubuntu, uninstall every snap, & finally reinstalling non snap versions of what you wanted to keep

[@geoman1420]

Running Ventura here on my MacBookPro (late 2008)... Dual Boot with latest Linux Mint XFCE....

[@mrmane2000]

I just installed Ubuntu 24.04 on my old 2012 MacBook Pro too. Glad to say that I am now happy with the new OS in it. I can finally use the command line efficiently after months of it being FUBAR. The old system was practically unusable because homebrew messed up all the CLI stuff on older unsupported versions of MacOS and the GUI was super slow anyway. Ubuntu 24.04 literally breathed new life into my old MacBook.

[@tiberiuslongbottom9571]

Just did this with the Noble release of Ubuntu on a 2014 MacBook Pro. Fun thing is they actually include the WiFi drivers this go around so I had no issues out the gate.

[@sethbessinger2025]

Awesome video! I have an older MacBook for school, but am certainly thinking of switching my PC to Linux when I can afford new parts!

[@DualWieldingDad]

Just consider the GPU vendor before going linux if you plan on gaming!

[@archgirl]

@@DualWieldingDadEh, Nvidia isn’t nearly as bad as people seem to think it is on Linux. Had no significant issues with my 3070 in my main gaming rig before upgrading and switching to AMD. Been using Linux exclusively since 2009, and it used to be AMD’s drivers that were hell. Don’t even get me started on Catalyst. Nvidia gets shade from the Linux community, but usually only those who haven’t actually tried using Nvidia hardware. Those of us who have (and still do) recognize that the issues just aren’t there anymore for the most part. Nvidia sucking for Linux is mostly just bellyaching from days long gone, regurgitated by people in echo chambers who don’t actually use Nvidia hardware and so aren’t qualified to speak to the actual state of the situation. Then it gets perpetuated by all the people who hear it, until all you hear is to _never_ use Nvidia cards on Linux, mostly from people who never have in the first place. If you want ray tracing in your games, avoid AMD, it’s awful on Linux. If you want to not even think about drivers, avoid Nvidia, although their drivers are easy as beans to install. If you want to use a distro or DE that’s using Wayland, AMD is your best bet currently, but Nvidia is working just fine for plenty of people. When it comes to just installing a card, using the right driver and then playing a game, there’s really not much of a difference; pick what you can afford that will match your CPU well. Apologies if this sounded negative, it really wasn’t supposed to be. I’ve just been using Nvidia cards on Linux for years, and it gets a little grating hearing everyone say the same thing about them without checking if that’s still the situation. It isn’t.

[@StinkySobaccos]

I'm running an ubuntu-based distro (Zorin OS Pro) on a 2013 Macbook Air with 8GB Ram and 1TB aftermarket SSD. Just Love it.

[@Τουκάνος]

I have old mac from 2007, and this have a old nvidia 8600m gt, and I don’t know how to install drivers for this graphics…

[@mauricioflores3732]

So you can use iPhone hotspot by using a cable? 😮 I didn’t know that 👌🏻

[@kumarakshay6004]

was the audio working fine out of the box?

[@ShaneDeal]

I revived my old 2008 macbook with Linux Mint, fortunately it's old enough that I was able to update to an SSD and add more ram to it. Thanks to Linux, I'm still regularly using it in 2024. (Though I have to be plugged in, the battery is pretty much dead.) I love it when I can make use of perfectly usable old hardware and have something that is still getting regular software updates.

[@haroldkhan7855]

does it work on a macbook air 2013?

[@DaisyHollowBooks]

I’m just getting into Linux. I’m getting a lot out of your videos.

[@DualWieldingDad]

Glad to hear 🤝

[@stormglass2882]

Glad you're promoting alternatives for older devices. Less e-waste. Older macs can run Windows, Linux, BSD.. You only have to swap out the hdd for a ssd.

[@DualWieldingDad]

I try my best to find jobs for these old machines. Will look for more this year 🤝

[@codeHacker693]

How did you manage to use mouse and keyboard? While installing Linux on Macbook air I coudn't use usb'bluetooth mouse and keyboard. What's the hint?

[@RocketEightEight]

You forgot to mention the camera drivers struggle. Also, my MacAir from 2014 runs good with Zorin, almost too good to the point it always runs hot with the fans at a 100%.

[@manuelrivera6778]

Did you try running mint xfce with the Lxqt desktop, thermald, undervolt and slimbook battery?

[@even___]

@@manuelrivera6778how’s the battery life with all that?

[@manuelrivera6778]

@@even___ haven’t tested it any of these in a while but in terms of getting better battery life, Linux Mint, Pop OS and MX Linux (exactly in that order) are pretty good if you want or need a Linux distro ready to go. But if I managed to have more time soon then I would give both Arch and Fedora a try to compare.

[@ravisarkaria2928]

Did you get the webcam to work? I did an Ubuntu install on the same model. Works great, but the os won't acknowledge the webcam hardware :/

[@laurencejohnson4106]

Yes, Linux gives older computers a new lease of life, I have tried Ubuntu, but I prefer Linux Mint and Zorin, they are both based on Ubuntu and Ubuntu is based on Debian. Linux Mint also offers LMDE 6 which is based directly on Debian, LMDE 6 is available in both 64 bit and 32 bit.

[@shrishak00]

I did it with my 2010 second hand macbook pro installed debian 12 and use bigsur theme. Dont judge it just like the UI of mac.

[@MotownBatman]

New sub; Dryden, Mich. Well Done, I got a 2012 MacBook Pro for $20, a New SSD & $30 RAM Upgrade... It makes a Great Emulator Laptop. Well Done Sir!

[@DualWieldingDad]

🤝

[@DualWieldingDad]

I took on an even older MacBook last year 😵‍💫 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaGnmYWKa6uFj5osi=Y3PYmA_ZtSGqDKIl

[@thereian2]

I installed xerolinux on my 2017 macbook air. It's an Arch based distro, and it runs absolutely fantastic!!!

[@DualWieldingDad]

Beautiful.

[@I401]

honestly I recommend looking for a lightweight system like Lubuntu, Linux Mint XFCE, all that jazz. In particular, something lightweight will give it better results.

[@CodyCLI]

I like the video overall so I'm not trying to be rude when I say this but either the colors are off on your camera or you color corrected it. I just think it isn't a good color combination.

[@RealOneUp]

Or use ghost spectre and be happy?

[@TurboTimTravels]

ECU, noice. Love Greenville

[@DualWieldingDad]

🏴‍☠️

[@dcpowered]

You got that wrong. It's "measure twice, cut once." 😂

[@eduardomontero8471]

I installed linux Cinnamon on my Imac 27" 2009 after rebbot it only shows blank screen, I tried with Ubuntu, Manjaro, Zorin and others. Only the dark screen. With High Sierra it works fine but I don't have any updates. Many people have this problem, I have tried everything they write but with no results. I have other 27" iMacs with High Sierra and the same thing. I would appreciate it if you know how to do it. Thank you.

[@DualWieldingDad]

Sorry for the late reply. This article might help get you in the right direction www.robertthivierge.com/2021/04/22/installing-ubuntu-on-a-2009-imac-in-2021/

[@zbiromax9228]

Hello. what kind of apple laptop is it? what models can be adapted for the linux system? does it matter which mac computer and which linux system? thank you.

[@DualWieldingDad]

Mine was a 2017 Air. I would look for a guide for the specific model first and see if there is a stable Linux distribution that works best for that model. Luckily my model MacBook had been converted in the past by others.

[@m12652]

Me too.... got a 2013 64gb Mac Pro running Ollama AI on mint! Bit slow, but doesn't seem to matter how fast AI is, its answers are inherently slow...

[@medleysa]

How’s the battery life on Linux (Mint specifically) compared to macOS on these machines?

[@DualWieldingDad]

Not enough for me to notice a difference. Definitely not worse

[@Hugodra]

I love it but can’t deal with the crazy scrolling speed on the trackpad any ideas/solutions

[@DualWieldingDad]

Have you checked “Mouse and touchpad” > “touchpad sensitivity”

[@Hugodra]

@@DualWieldingDad yes is basically the two finger scrolling is way to fast and no way to adjusted

[@nutbastard]

Got annoyed with my old intel air only supporting up to 10.13, and I’ve always hated MacOS anyway. Tossed Mint/Cinnamon on there. Entirely painless, everything works. I’ve been trying Linux for decades and until now it never quite worked without invoking the terminal. IMO a consumer grade OS should never require using a CLI. Mint has apparently gotten it to that level of UX. Also, you might have been able to run the driver utility and point it to the boot usb - the driver for the air Wi-Fi is in there, at least with Mint. Not sure why it doesn’t auto install since it is included. That’s how I got mine running anyway.

[@prhasn]

excellent

[@bsdslacker]

Got an old macbook air on the way to get Ubuntu on it. Will become one of the gang soon.

[@karanjoshi2662]

The amount of fluff in all videos over youtube is crazy

[@bruhmoment2312]

hey, could you link the cpu test app? I have a 2020 MacBook but i3 dual core and I want to know if it's actually worse then your old i5 in macOS before I switch to linux. cuz if it will, I will be mad and leave very angry reviews 😂

[@DualWieldingDad]

geekbench 6 is the software I used(KZbin has been weird about flagging URLs in comments as spam). I’ll link it in the description.

[@bruhmoment2312]

@@DualWieldingDad thanks man, time to get disappointed

[@bruhmoment2312]

@@DualWieldingDad okay so it's not worse, but a 2020 mac being better than a 2015 mac by 200 points on single core and 400 on multi core is actually something that should be a joke

[@NoahHeadglitch]

Now it's time to put pop os on it

[@donaldwilliams6821]

Great video! My son was going to trash an even older Mac pro when he couldn't upgrade MacOS. I grabbed it and installed Linux. There are lighter desktops that work great on older PCs. I.e. XFCE, LXQt etc I actually use Garuda Arch Linux Arch has the most current kernels, so things like the Mac WiFi work out of the box.

[@toombo11]

I did this and cannot access the internet. So frustrating

[@DualWieldingDad]

Ethernet USB adapter or use your phone for USB tethering like I did

[@mendodsoregonbackroads6632]

At some point there’s going to be a few distros that will run on M series Mac’s.

[@user-vj2le5xp2v]

Asahi Linux Project(Fedora/Arch/Alpine/AOSC/CentOS/Debian/deepin/Gentoo/NixOS/Rocky/Ubuntu)

[@litemint09]

Hey Dad,hows the battery performance after Linux?

[@DualWieldingDad]

I think there’s some kinks to work out with sleep mode battery drainage but the battery life is slightly better I would say without any metrics to base that on.

[@litemint09]

@@DualWieldingDad cool, you may want try to check Auto-Cpu Freq or TLP, it can improve the battery life.

[@The_Penguin_City]

Kernel microcode update. That's why.

[@solaire_of_the_east]

Am I the only one who read the title in Postal Dude's voice ?

[@Knowit265]

Hi dual-welding Dad I suppose it’s been 4 months you’ve been uaing this can you point aome Issue’s that you faced

[@DualWieldingDad]

I still never got the webcam working. I know it’s doable but I haven’t sat down and figured out how to fix it 🤔

[@anoopm2022]

Unsupported Window's devices and Mac devices will later become Linux Machines. Linux saves them from being an e-waste.

[@a.lawrence4969]

I have used Ubuntu, Fedora, POP OS and other distros and ALL run better than MacOS.

[@daseinbot]

i had an old laptop to turn into a linux machine but it turned out to be too old even for linux XD so i got a steam deck XD

[@DualWieldingDad]

One of the few hardware platforms built for Linux. I’ll get one eventually.

[@Junior-rw3jm]

Balena Etcher

[@joen3992]

What stopped me from using linux on my Macbooks and Macbook Pro I own: if you don't know how to install wifi drivers. You're stuck with a lemon. And frankly having to read blog after forums. Is rocket science to me. I'd rather use OCLP and put a newer OS on my Macs thanks....sudo this sudo that. Come on, give me a break!

[@optalgin2371]

So Ubuntu on Mac in 2024 is still not feasible 🥲

[@DualWieldingDad]

Do you mean a newer Mac on Apple silicon?

[@optalgin2371]

@@DualWieldingDad I mean in the year 2024.. lol since you commented here you're on mac again, I assume linux haven't lived much time on your mac.