I saw a secondhand 2017 MacBook going for very cheap. Is it worth it if you install Linux?

I know there are some proprietary drivers to sort out.

Do you need to fix power managment.

I guess I'd go for Mint, Zorin OS or Fedora Workstation.

TY!

CPU: 2x Intel Xeon X5690 3.46 GHz

RAM: 6x 16GB OWC1333D3MPE

....... do I NEEEED a GPU for Pear OS? Or can I keep this PCIe x16 free for card?

if not, what GPU's are best? I am narrowing in on:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB)

NVIDIA GTX TITAN X 12 GB (PASCAL)

AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100

AMD RX 6900 XT

but, it would be nice to fine a GPU that only blocks ONE PCIe x16, and is not so chunky that it blocks both 😩.

if you have suggestions, please help. 🤓

I’m gonna partition it so 350 go on macOS and 150 on Linux

Hello everyone,

If you are running Linux Mint (using modern PipeWire audio architectures) on a **2019 iMac** (Intel Cannon Lake cAVS bus with the **Cirrus Logic CS8409/CS42L83** sound card chip) and your audio completely drops out or turns into a "Dummy Output" when waking up from suspend, here is the permanent workaround.

### The Root Cause

On Apple logic boards using this specific Cirrus Logic setup, a deep ACPI suspend state (`S3`) causes the system to cut the physical power lines to the internal speaker amplifiers. Because out-of-tree Linux drivers cannot natively re-trigger these Apple-exclusive GPIO power hooks on wake, the hardware completely locks up until you perform a full reboot.

### The Permanent Fix

The solution is to force `systemd` to drop into a light Suspend-to-Idle (`s2idle` / `freeze`) power state instead of deep sleep. This safely powers off your screen, storage, and external accessories to save energy, but keeps the audio chip's initialization map cached in memory.

1. Open your terminal and edit the system sleep configuration file:

   `sudo nano /etc/systemd/sleep.conf`

2. Scroll down below the `[Sleep]` header and paste these two lines exactly as they are (*do not add a `#` comment symbol in front of them*):

   ```text

   SuspendState=freeze

   AllowDeepSleep=no

   ```

3. Save and close the editor (`Ctrl` + `O`, then `Enter`, then `Ctrl` + `X`).

4. Force systemd to reload its newly assigned configuration mapping:

   `sudo systemctl daemon-reload`

5. **Reboot your iMac.**

### Verification

Once your system boots back up, open a terminal and run:

`cat /sys/power/mem_sleep`

If everything loaded correctly, you will see `[s2idle]` enclosed in brackets instead of `[deep]`. Your internal speakers will now instantly play physical sound the second you reach your lock screen!

update on: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_on_mac/comments/1wkj0q4/finally_5k_support_on_imacs_in_linux/

This patch allows support for 5K and allows switching between resolution's. this also dosent interfere with external displays, and other iMacs. Wayland recommended

I am happy to give a new life to this machine, just changed the thermal paste on the top of CPU and the graphics AMD, also changed the thermal pad over the graphic memories. There are a nice tutorial in ifixit https://es.ifixit.com/Guía/Reemplazo+la+de+tarjeta+gráfica+en+una+iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2428/5980

The difference in temperature was incredible. Mine down under 48 Celsius instead of 68 than before.
I was not able to run YouTube and now is perfect.

Between fedora and Debian?

I tested with a bootable USB fedora 44 and Debian 13, I feel fedora give me better resolution at least seems I can read and see better.
Also I check the sensors and seems the temperature is similar but little bit higher with Debian, oposite than expected.

Read that with Debian I can change the rendering Subpixel (RGBA) LCD Filtering as Fedora and set fonts configuration to enable Subpixel (for LCD).

My question is if I beguine to make some changes in fedora this will cause troubles in future upgrades ? Why do not choice fedora if gives me better os out of the box for my iMac ?

Any suggestions ?

Here's everything I'm using

Mac: MacBookPro15,2 2019 i5

AirPods: AirPods2,1

OS: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (T2 Linux)

No matter what I've tried, the audio connection has just been extremely choppy whenever I'm booted into Ubuntu

The output is fine when booted into macOS,

I compiled and installed this on Ubuntu 26.04.1 and I can confirm that the Touch Bar works flawlessly. - MBP13,3 2016

I have 3 distros installed on my MBA 2013, and in each one of them, Mozilla Firefox makes it run quite hot, up to about 80 Celsius, particularly on YT.
Are there cooler-running browsers? Should I get into the habit of downloading videos first and then watching them offline? FWIW, the 3 distros are MXLinux, Mint Debian Edition 6, and UbuntuStudio 22.don't remember. Is it Firefox or just YT?

Basically i have this old macbook air 2011 which I want to install linux mint to and it js doesnt get into the boot selector like Im holding option before and after I press the start button and it just boots onto MacOS all the time no matter what I try, can someone help?

Recently installed Linux Mint Cinnamon, on my MBP 2015, dual booting side by side with MacOS, maxed out model for it's year, and it's been flawless for the last few weeks.

The only matter, I'd like to know if anybody, would be able to suggest, for Bluetooth - sometimes I get patchy audio, while in Bluetooth, or if I connect a Bluetooth mouse or Keyboard it connects but does not move, or type. Anyone got suggestions to fix that, and make it work properly, and even better? I have already tried blue.

Other then that every feature and app MacOS would have, I got in Linux, including those shortcuts, battery protection, speed performance boost and etc, runs brand new.

PS: I just realized I put 2015 twice in the title, my bad

I have a MacBook Pro with an Intel i9. It still feels like capable hardware, but it’s increasingly feeling left behind. I wanted to keep using it, so I installed Ubuntu.

One of the biggest surprises was getting local AI models running on it. I hadn’t managed to get the same workflow working under macOS, and suddenly I had another reason to keep experimenting with this machine.

Then I started realizing how much I could change about the desktop itself. I wanted a search bar that could find my apps and files, but also let me talk to my local model without opening a separate application.

That became Search Widget GNOME AI, a GNOME extension I’m now sharing as an open-source project.

Here’s what it does:

• Searches apps and enabled GNOME search providers.
• Connects to your own local AI server, with configuration examples for llama.cpp, Ollama, and LM Studio.
• Displays streaming answers with Markdown formatting.
• Keeps the conversation visible, with a separate reply field below the messages.
• Preserves your draft and reading position while another answer comes in.
• Offers optional voice input using local Whisper transcription.

You can choose your model and adjust the endpoint, system prompt, temperature, response length, and conversation context limits. The widget doesn’t bundle an LLM—you bring the model and server you want to use.

It’s currently tested on GNOME Shell 46, so I’d especially appreciate help testing and adapting it for other versions. It’s MIT-licensed, and the README includes installation instructions, dependencies, configuration examples, and troubleshooting.

Repository: SearchWidgetGnomeAI

If this sounds useful, come try it, open an issue, suggest improvements, or contribute a pull request. I’d love to see what other people make of it.

Installing Ubuntu has made me want to keep using and building things on a laptop I was starting to think about replacing. Has anyone else had a similar experience bringing an older Mac back into their daily workflow?

Note: The video recording crashes a bit because Local AI consumes a lot of GPU, thanks!

https://reddit.com/link/1wtiwk4/video/p424cuu7bish1/player

Here how I got running but I couldn’t remember that link and extract zip and then put on session

I'm trying to build a home lab, and we had this old iMac that its OS had crashed... So I decided to install Linux Mint... iMac11,3 27-inch iMac, Mid-2010, 4 GB RAM, Intel 64-bit architecture.

Now, I tested the Linux Mint but the keyboard didn't work so I shut the system and started it up again, this time it kept reverting to macOS recovery and the keyboard isn't working anymore... Connected but not working

Hello. 

I don't want to part w/ my MacBook Pro.

2.9 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i9

Radeon Pro 555X 4 GB

Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

It is currently capped at Sequoia 15.7.9 and I am getting concerned about continued security exposure.

I would like to see what -if any- options I have for native linux distributions that would run well on my MacBook Pro.

Priorities:

A desktop distribution would be great, but I can also do a straight CLI deployment as well. 

I would prefer a Debian based distribution, but I am more concerned w/ HW compatibility.

Anyone deal with this before? Thanks!

Its successfully runs too