Omarchy M is the new team behind Omarchy’s push to bring its Linux desktop to Apple Silicon Macs, with M1 and M2 machines set as the first release target. The project says the initial build will include GPU support, external monitors over USB-C, Touch ID, disk encryption and Apple’s MLX machine-learning framework.
The announcement comes from Omarchy creator David Heinemeier Hansson, who says the project is intended for Mac owners who want to keep the hardware and replace macOS. Omarchy is an Arch-based Linux distribution built around the Hyprland desktop, and its earlier general release was covered in our look at Omarchy’s agent-focused Linux desktop.
Omarchy M is targeting M1 and M2 Macs first
The first release is aimed at M1 and M2 Macs, including Pro and Max versions. Newer Apple Silicon machines are being worked on alongside that effort. The project’s Apple Silicon repository documents the current installation path and hardware assumptions, rather than presenting the work as finished support for every Mac. The project says a native Mac installer will download a signed Omarchy release, handle the required partitions and boot Omarchy alongside macOS, rather than requiring a USB drive and a terminal-heavy setup.
There will also be a Try Omarchy app. It runs the desktop as a hardware-accelerated Mac application, with access to the camera, audio, clipboard and a shared folder, so users can inspect the environment before changing their disk layout. The announcement does not give a release date or system requirements beyond the hardware targets.
What Omarchy M adds to Linux on Apple hardware
The work covers more than the desktop layer. The team is developing GPU drivers, support for speakers, trackpads and power management, external displays over USB-C, and Linux support for Apple’s N1 chip in newer M5 machines. Touch ID support is being built through the Secure Enclave.
Omarchy M also includes an MLX effort that aims to let Apple’s machine-learning framework run on Linux GPUs through Vulkan. Code written with import mlx.core as mx is intended to work without changing the framework-level API, although the announcement does not make a performance claim. That puts the project close to the wider shift towards local processing on Apple Silicon, covered in our report on Apple’s on-device AI push.
The existing Omarchy Mac project has been maintained for about a year and has built a Discord community of more than 800 people, according to Omarchy. The new team formalises that work; it does not turn every Mac into a supported Linux machine overnight. M1 and M2 are the starting point, and the installer, drivers and newer-chip support are still being developed.
What is Omarchy M?
Omarchy M is the team and project working to bring the Omarchy Linux desktop to Macs with Apple Silicon.
Which Macs will support Omarchy M first?
The first release is targeting M1 and M2 Macs, including Pro and Max variants. Support for newer Apple Silicon Macs is being developed in parallel.
Can I try Omarchy M without installing it?
Yes. Try Omarchy is planned as a hardware-accelerated Mac app with access to the camera, audio, clipboard and a shared folder.
