Does Asahi Linux support M3 Macs?

Yes. M3 support was merged into the Asahi Linux installer on September 6, 2026, behind Expert mode. Webcam, microphones, USB 3 (10 Gb/s), hardware AV1 decoding, WiFi, and Bluetooth work. GPU 3D acceleration, sleep, HDMI, Thunderbolt, and the M3 Ultra Mac Studio are not yet supported.

How long did M3 support take compared to M1?

1,042 days vs 493 days. Apple announced the M1 on November 10, 2020, and Asahi's first alpha released March 18, 2022 (493 days). Apple announced the M3 on October 30, 2023, and M3 support landed September 6, 2026 (1,042 days) — a 2.1x longer wait, though the M3 milestone arrives at a much higher feature bar than the original alpha.

Is an M3 Mac daily-drivable on Asahi Linux today?

Partially. Core I/O, networking, video decode, and input all work, but there is no performant GPU acceleration, no sleep, and no HDMI output. The Expert-mode installer requirement is expected to drop with the Fedora 45 beta in roughly two weeks.

Asahi Linux M3 Support Lands 1,042 Days After Launch

Asahi Linux officially supports M3 Macs as of yesterday: support merged into the installer on September 6, gated behind Expert mode for now. Webcam, microphones, USB, hardware AV1 decode, WiFi, Bluetooth — working. The milestone is real. The number underneath it is the story: the lag between Apple shipping a chip and Linux supporting it is growing, not shrinking.

What works on M3 today

Per the team's announcement, "almost everything supported on the M1 and M2 series machines just works" — webcam, internal mics, USB 3 at 10 Gb/s, hardware-accelerated video decoding including AV1, WiFi, Bluetooth. What's still missing: performant 3D (the GPU driver isn't ready — "do not expect performant or power-efficient 3D acceleration right now"), full DCP support (so sleep doesn't work and MacBook HDMI is disabled), the M3 Ultra Mac Studio, and Thunderbolt — GPU dev Sven Peter confirms no PCI yet and DisplayPort working but unstable. Install today with curl -L https://alx.sh | EXPERT=1 sh; the Expert gate is expected to drop with the Fedora 45 beta in a couple of weeks.

The reverse-engineering tax doubled

The receipts, computed by me from public dates: Apple announced the M1 on November 10, 2020; Asahi's first alpha released March 18, 2022 — 493 days. Apple announced the M3 on October 30, 2023; M3 support landed September 6, 2026 — 1,042 days. Same project, two generations of prior reverse-engineering experience, and the wait still grew 2.1×. The fair caveat: the bar moved. The 2022 alpha booted a shell; M3 support arrives at feature parity with M1/M2. But the direction holds — the SoC surface (display engine, GPU, storage controllers, video decoders) grows every generation, Apple ships zero documentation, and every new chip resets part of the board. The GPU is the recurring tax: M1 shipped in 2020 and conformant OpenGL 4.6 didn't land until February 2024 — 1,191 days.

Verdict

Buy the Mac for macOS. If you need Linux, buy hardware whose vendor writes the drivers. This release is a triumph for the volunteers and an indictment of the platform: 1,042 days of unpaid, undocumented reverse-engineering per generation, with the GPU — as always — the last piece standing. Watch the Fedora 45 beta: if the Expert gate drops on schedule, M3 Macs become the best-supported Linux laptops Apple never meant to make.

What works on M3 today

The reverse-engineering tax doubled

Verdict

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