Security researchers have ported Ubuntu Linux for Apple Silicon M1 hardware

Corellium’s CTO Chris Wade on Wednesday tweeted two photos of Ubuntu’s Groovy Gorilla running on the Mac Mini M1, adding that it was “completely usable” after booting from a ‘live’ USB drive.

Ubuntu port doesn’t support graphics acceleration as of now, so graphics can only operate in the much slower software rendering mode. (Chris Wade (@cmwdotme)/Corellium)

While app developers like Microsoft and VideoLAN are slowing bringing native support for their apps like Edge Browser and VLC media player for Apple Silicon processors, researchers at Corellium have already completed ‘porting' a full Linux distribution to the M1 chipsets that power Apple's latest MacBooks.

Linux is now completely usable on the Mac mini M1. Booting from USB a full Ubuntu desktop (rpi). Network works via a USB c dongle. Update includes support for USB, I2C, DART. We will push changes to our GitHub and a tutorial later today. Thanks to the @CorelliumHQ team ❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/uBDbDmvJUG

— Chris Wade (@cmwdotme) January 20, 2021

Corellium's Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade on Wednesday tweeted two photos of Ubuntu's Groovy Gorilla running on the Mac Mini M1, adding that it was “completely usable” after booting from a ‘live' USB drive. He added that network connectivity was achieved via a USB-C dongle and that the company would push the changes to their GitHub repository along with a tutorial.

According to a report by AppleInsider, the Ubuntu port doesn't support graphics acceleration as of now, so graphics can only operate in the much slower software rendering mode - unlike the CPU which can be fully utilised with native support, just like you can on macOS. The report also states that jailbreak developers also worked with Corellium to get the port working, including the team that worked on the checkra1n exploit that leveraged checkm8 - an un-fixable system vulnerability that was found on devices older than the iPhone X.

Corellium, a company in Florida is well known for making “virtual iPhones” which security researchers can then use to test for system vulnerabilities - the company was reportedly in talks with Apple over a potential acquisition, but could not agree on a price. Ironically, Corellium is most famous outside the security sphere for its tussle with Apple over a lawsuit that the latter filed against Corellium two years ago over a copyright issue. HT Tech had reported that Apple lost that same lawsuit in December last year.