Progress Report: Linux 7.3 - Asahi Linux

Linux version 7.3 has been released, marking an eventful few months for Asahi Linux. Upstreaming work continues to progress, with two major drivers - macaudio and avd - making it on to the list this cycle. The macaudio driver, required for Apple Silicon audio subsystem, has faced challenges due to its uniqueness and needs for core ALSA changes.

The AVD driver, on the other hand, has had a short turnaround time and is poised for upstream-first development. Initial Devicetrees were added for M4 Pro, Max, and M5 devices, with ongoing work on further enablement. Changes to TI USB-PD and SPMI drivers for new devices, along with Thunderbolt support, have been developed upstream-first.

M3 series machines now have generally available support, with DCP enabled for improved performance and battery life. Virtualizing SPTM-enabled versions of macOS is possible in m1n1, allowing for reverse engineering on M4 and M5 series machines. While M3 support is mostly feature-par with M1 and M2, the GPU presents a significant challenge due to Apple's unique approach. Thunderbolt support, initially promised, remains a work in progress due to Apple's in-house design.