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.

  • @d3Xt3rM
    39•3 months ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]English
      38•3 months ago

      But may I ask why do you want to run Linux

      If I had to guess, it’s because Linux doesn’t suck.

    • ReallyZen
      10•3 months ago

      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.

    • mFatOPEnglish
      3•3 months ago

      Thanks. I want to run linux because that’s what I’ve used for the past 15 years :) The company I work for has provided us with intel Macbooks, but rarely use it. Instead i do all my work using my own Thinkbook 14s Yoga running Fedora.