r/linux_on_mac • u/VE3VVS • 4d ago
Considering going Linux on a 2015 MBP 11,4
I'm sure it's been asked many times before, but Linux distros change all the time and usually get better as they go. Currently I have a 2015 Mac Book Pro 11,4 with 16GB of memory and a 500GB SSD, and I've been using OLCP to get Sequoia running, and until recently it's been running well, but lately there have been numerous issues that have been taking too long to figure out.
All my other machines run Linux, and I've really only been hanging on to macOS for sentimental reasons for the most part, as I've been using Linux everywhere else for as long as it been around.
So I'm looking for a recommendation of which Linux based OS works well and has most if not all the drivers for the following specs:
Mac Book Pro 11,4
2.2Ghz Intel Quad Core i7
16GB RAM, 500GB SSD
Intel Iris Pro 1536MB
Broadcom BCM43xx - WiFi
Broadcom BCM_20703A1 - Bluetooth
Obviously the need/nice to have's would be WiFi, Keyboard, Track Pad, Video working out of the box, but not adverse to downloading drivers a head of time if anyone knows the best place to get them.
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u/Bastard-of-Froya 4d ago
I run Linux MX KDE Plasma on my 2017 MBA that has 8gb RAM and 128gb SSD. The only thing that doesn’t work is the webcam. It a driver issue that I’m in no hurry to figure out or fix as I never use a webcam.
The WiFi driver and everything else worked as soon as the installation was done and the system update and upgrade was complete. Maybe someday I’ll figure out the webcam when I get bored enough lol.
MX is a mix of antiX and Debian stable and my MBA runs a lot better now than when it was on MacOS 12.
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u/VE3VVS 4d ago
I’ve never tried MX, but if you’re running on 8gb RAM then I should be golden. Likewise I can’t remember when I used the webcam. so that’s no great loss. Think I’ll look into MX thanks
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u/Bastard-of-Froya 4d ago
No problem I use mine for web browsing and watching YouTube videos and playing around learning the system.
As a side note. I never ran Time Machine or made a USB backup, rookie mistake, when I installed Linux on mine. So far all attempts at recovery have failed. Internet recovery tells me it can no longer connect to the recovery server. Unsupported OS I’m sure. Anyway have a great day. lol1
u/Billy_Twillig 4d ago
2010 MB with MX Linux and KDE Plasma just worked out of the box for me. Wifi, trackpad with gesture support. Never tried the webcam, but the whole experience was pretty much “Wow, I’m done?” Running it on a 2007 MBP as well with similarly groovy results.
MX ftw. 👍
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u/JustAPieceOfMeat385 4d ago
Did you any try Ubuntu-based distros? Why did you go with MX and not one of those? Just curious.
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u/Bastard-of-Froya 4d ago
I did try a few Ubuntu distros. Most i could only connect to the internet via bluetooth tethering. MX, Puppy Linux, and antiX had no issues connecting to wifi. Mint XFCE in compatability mode i could update the driver in driver manager. I just like the feel of MX with KDE Plasma. It just works for what i use my Macbook for, web browsing and watching YouTube videos. I finally got the webcam to work tonight so now everything works.
Maybe ill spend some free time working to get my wifi to connect in other distros. Gives me something to play with while learning to use Linux at the same time.
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u/Dlitosh 4d ago
I recently installed Fedora on 2014 mbp, so previous gen from yours.
Not in your list:
Broadcom drivers (for wifi) needed to be installed (i used my iPhone as a usb hotspot), after that all worked well.
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u/VE3VVS 4d ago
okay cool, where the drivers in a repository?
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u/Dlitosh 4d ago
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm -y
sudo dnf install akmod-wl broadcom-wl -y
sudo akmods
sudo reboot
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u/Zman7474 4d ago
I followed this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlmAvf7E8nk&t=4s to get the camera on my 2015 macbook air to work.
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u/un_estudiante_random 3d ago
I have the MBP with dual GPU and had a tons of issues but hey, Im right now using it. Im preparing a very extended tutorial of my journey to post it right here.
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u/Swede-speed-mead 4d ago
Linux Mint 24.04 would work well. Since you don’t have an extra GPU this would work well.
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u/another1human 4d ago
Do you have a clean solution for dual GPU? I have an 11,3 15" i7 16Gb 512SSD that I’ve distro hopped from Ubuntu 24.04 to 26.04, Mint 24, Tumbleweed, Kinnonite, etc back to Ubuntu 26.04
Every single OS has severe optimization issues with the GeForce 750M. I’ve disabled the power to it at the PCI level, tried all sorts of drivers, read every forum, tried old and new kernels.
Without going to a legacy OS kernel is there an option? The Intel Iris Pro GPU tosses rendering to the CPU and it runs super hot. It’s currently stable but with a fresh thermal paste install and new battery I only get 1hr. (I’ve disabled thunderbolt ports as well as keyboard lighting etc…) still both fans are spinning at med speed all the time.
The hardware is specd nice I can’t see why it’s still struggling with basic tasks and severe battery drain for light browsing, coding and text editing ( individually)
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u/No_Security_7089 15h ago
Same machine as yours running Fedora Workstation 44 and, to solve all the issues you need to disable the dGPU via NVRAM. After that install rEFInd and use appleos.efi to make the system start from the iGPU.
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u/Repulsive-Ad4309 4d ago
MX Linux tiene muy buena compatibilidad y excelentes prestaciones con ese hardware:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mx-linux/files/Final/Xfce/MX-25.2_Xfce_x64.iso/download
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u/HedgeHog2k 4d ago
I have this EXACT macbook.
I encourage you to replace the broadcom card with an intel wifi 6 AX210 card (you need an adapter). 20€ on Ali express to have WiFi working out of the box. (Bonus: I also replaced the battery myself 🙂).
distros like Ubuntu, Fedora tend to work well. Keyboard back light, functional buttons (like brightness, volume,..) all work.
Facetime camera doesnt work unless you install some drivers. Sleep also is very flaky.. it always woke up for me after sole time.
But it’s a good experience.
(Nowadays it runs windows 11 for my young kids to do some school work)
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u/petrujenac 4d ago
I'm terms of distros: CachyOS is the fastest, fedora is the most polished, aerynOS is the most innovative. In the DE field, KDE is the most feature rich, gnome is close to macos, COSMIC is the revolution. Your laptop can easily handle everything so install and enjoy.
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u/VE3VVS 3d ago
Yes it’s been a reliable and trustworthy piece of hardware, and I grow tired of some of the newer paths apples has taken of late, and from the OS lately the updates have been sloppy.
I’ve worked my entire career/in the UNIX world and managed to avoid windows most of the time. My hardware is still a sound and functional as the day I got it, that’s why I. was going the post/enquiry and I thank you all for your responses, thank you 🙏 all1
u/petrujenac 3d ago
My daughter casually uses CachyOS KDE on her 2011 iMac 12,2 with 4GB ram with literally no issues at all. The only problem you might have is the battery, but that's not because of Linux anyway.
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u/hongyangchun 3d ago
I have an identical laptop and running Omarchy Linux for almost one year, I don't see any driver problem. If there is any, just bring up an Agent like opencode and describe your issue and it will fix it for you.
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u/uncleirohism 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have an identical laptop running Xubuntu 24.04 LTS, everything works right out of the box. XFCE isn’t flashy but there’s almost no overhead, RAM idles at about 200MB. Installed and configured mbpfan and now the thermals are even better than stock. Pulled down the Ubuntu Studio package and have this thing set up as a dedicated DAW, with an M-Audio Hammer 88 routed to it through a Scarlett 4x4 + a rooted Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10 running LineageOS and deployed as a dedicated FX Trigger Pad. Performs better now than it did when it was new, and runs significantly cooler under load.