The first Linux patches boot the MacBook Neo on a single core of its A18 Pro
In early September 2026, developer Yureka Lilian posted the first Device Tree patches for the Apple A18 Pro SoC in the MacBook Neo, with support still limited to a single CPU core. It is the first concrete step toward Linux support on Apple’s entry-level laptop, but daily use is months away.
September 4, 2026. Developer Yureka Lilian posts the first Device Tree patches for the Apple A18 Pro and the MacBook Neo to the Linux kernel mailing list. September 5, 2026. Phoronix covers the submission. The verdict is modest: the laptop boots, but on a single CPU core. Why it matters: this is the first concrete step toward Linux support on Apple’s “budget” laptop, which shares its SoC with the iPhone 16 Pro.
An iPhone SoC inside an entry-level laptop
The MacBook Neo is the entry-level laptop Apple launched recently. Under the hood it carries the t8140 SoC — the internal name for the A18 Pro, the same silicon found in the iPhone 16 Pro. For the free-software world, that is a signal: Linux support for a mass-deployed consumer chip becomes thinkable, whereas the “M” chips in MacBooks were long the only porting targets.
The posted patches cover two things. First, the bindings — the kernel’s formal description of the devices the chip exposes. Second, a minimal Device Tree for the MacBook Neo, limited to the bare essentials for booting: CPU cores, the interrupt controller, the watchdog, the serial port, and the framebuffer.
Why a Device Tree changes everything
On ARM platforms, the Linux kernel has no equivalent of the ACPI found on x86 PCs for hardware discovery. It relies on a Device Tree: a description file that tells the kernel “here are the devices, their addresses, and their interrupts.” Without one, there is no boot — or a blind one.
Posting a Device Tree is therefore not a cosmetic detail. It is the foundation everything else builds on: once the kernel knows where the devices are, each driver can be added one at a time. The MacBook Neo’s Device Tree is deliberately minimal, but it is the right starting point.
A boot, but on a single core
The most visible limit is the CPU. For now, the MacBook Neo only runs on a single core, a restriction imposed by the WFI and WFIT instructions — the low-power wait mechanisms of the ARM architecture. The practical translation: the system boots and shows a console, but it is far from exploiting the silicon, and even farther from daily use.
Support for the A18 Pro is described as “severely limited,” in line with the current state of M3 support under Linux. It will likely be several months before GPU acceleration and the full set of features expected of a modern laptop appear. Beyond the kernel changes, modifications are also needed in m1n1, the bootloader of the Asahi Linux project.
A single core, in practice, means even trivial tasks — starting services, unpacking a package, drawing the console — run in series on one core. Performance is that of a prototype, not a laptop. That is expected at this stage, but it makes the machine unusable for any real workload.
The real state of Apple Silicon support under Linux
These patches are part of a broader effort, led mainly by the Asahi Linux project, which is already working on enabling the M3 and newer chips. The essential point to grasp: Linux support for Apple Silicon remains a long-haul effort, carried out backwards through reverse engineering, with no official documentation from Apple.
Progress follows a predictable order. First a single-core boot, then the basic peripherals — UART, watchdog, framebuffer — then the GPU and power management, and finally the user-facing devices: Wi-Fi, keyboard, trackpad, audio. The MacBook Neo has just entered the first stage. Each remaining block is, on its own, a multi-month project.
As a reference point, support for Apple’s M1 chips took several years to reach daily-driver maturity, and M3 support is still incomplete. The MacBook Neo will not break that pattern: the September patches are a foundation, not a finish line.
Why this is news that matters
For self-hosters and Linux enthusiasts, the MacBook Neo has a particular appeal: it is a relatively affordable ARM laptop with a polished chassis whose silicon is already proven at scale. If Linux support matures, it could become a credible alternative to Snapdragon X machines and first-generation M1/M2 MacBooks.
But the gap between “it boots” and “it replaces a laptop” remains enormous. In between sit the GPU, power management, Wi-Fi, and audio — the building blocks without which a machine is unusable day to day, whatever the quality of its kernel.
M1, M3, A18: a decade of catching up
The Asahi Linux project has turned Apple Silicon support into a long-haul affair. Porting the M1 chip — announced in 2020 — took years before it reached daily-driver quality, from the GPU to power management. The M3 port is still underway, with gaps around graphics acceleration and peripherals. The A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo therefore starts from scratch on a related but distinct architecture.
The difficulty is not raw compute but the absence of documentation. Apple publishes no SoC specifications, no drivers, and no firmware description. Every device must be understood through reverse engineering, described in the Device Tree, and given a driver written and tested end to end. It is artisanal work, carried by a handful of volunteer contributors.
The useful benchmark is this: Linux support for Apple Silicon advances, but on a timescale measured in years, not weeks. The September 2026 patches for the MacBook Neo are a first stone — nothing more, but nothing less either.
By comparison, Snapdragon X laptops now enjoy reasonably mature Linux support through Debian and Fedora, the fruit of coordinated work between Qualcomm and the distributions. The MacBook Neo is not there yet: it depends on a community effort with no help from the vendor. The gap in timelines matches the gap in industrial backing.
Beyond the kernel: bootloader and strategy
The m1n1 bootloader deserves a word: Apple Silicon machines chain-load through a locked boot process, and m1n1 is the piece that lets a non-Apple OS run at all. Changes there matter as much as the kernel patches — without a bootloader that recognizes the MacBook Neo, none of the Device Tree work can even be reached.
For Asahi, the MacBook Neo is also strategic: it is a current, widely sold machine, not a discontinued flagship. A working port there extends the project’s relevance beyond enthusiast hardware that keeps getting harder to buy. For the self-hosting crowd, the appeal is equally concrete: a quiet, power-sipping ARM laptop makes a strong always-on home-lab server, and a supported MacBook Neo would slot into that role far better than a phone without a screen.
Verdict
If you are thinking of buying a MacBook Neo to run Linux on it, wait. Current support is limited to a single core with no GPU acceleration, and daily usability is months away.
If you follow the Asahi Linux project, these patches are a direction signal: the t8140/A18 Pro is now on the roadmap, and the MacBook Neo becomes an official porting target.
If you need an ARM laptop running Linux today, choose hardware that is already mature: an M1/M2 Mac with more advanced Asahi support, or a Snapdragon X machine on Debian or Fedora.