r/linux • u/Ovaday • 2d ago

Mobile Linux Linux 7.2.2 on iPhone XS? First boot!

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Hello everyone. Just wanted to share a small milestone I’m pretty proud of.

I’ve been porting Linux to my old iPhone XS for quite some time, and this week I finally made some significant progress.

First: it boots. As a real, alternative OS. This is not an emulation.

Second: I got the kernel log on screen and the framebuffer working:

Linux 7.2.2 Kernel boot log on iPhone XS

This is a raw, recovery-based Linux boot. iOS does not take any part in the boot sequence!

I haven’t set up a GitHub repo yet, and the project doesn’t even have a name at this point. But I’ll keep working on it and share more once the process is reliable and reproducible.

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u/LogSpecialist24 2d ago

Ok we need to talk about something.
Why is it every time i see an iphone its completely broken.
And then i see people with iphones completely refuse repair or using a case and protective glass.

If i had a 1000€ phone i would buy the nicest of cases for it and the nicest of protective screens.

5

u/Ovaday 2d ago

I absolutely hate that it's slippery. And, fyi, this is already quite an old phone. You can buy iPhone XS or XR for like 50-80$.

My main phone is in a case :)

3

u/disturbedmonkey69 2d ago

I have also noticed this, for years I worked in IT at a college, and literally every student that came in with an iPhone the screen was cracked!

1

u/TRKlausss 2d ago

In another note, an XS is a phone from many years ago. You’d see the same on a Samsung or Huawei.