Technology

Asahi Linux details Apple Silicon power management and M4 support progress

Developers resolved M4 crash issues, emulated security frameworks to restore hypervisor functionality, and expanded M3 device support.

Updated Aug 27, 2026 · 00:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

Asahi Linux developers implemented a UEFI Runtime Service conduit to handle Power State Coordination Interface (PSCI) calls on Apple Silicon without standard EL3 firmware.
A new kernel command-line parameter was introduced to prevent M4-powered Apple devices from crashing during early boot caused by CPU state retention quirks.
Reverse engineering of Apple's security frameworks enabled m1n1 hypervisor support on M4 chips, while driver updates brought full webcam, microphone, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt support to M3 series hardware.

Sven developed a UEFI Runtime Service-based PSCI conduit enabling the Linux kernel to execute power management functions via m1n1 without EL3 firmware.[Hacker News]
Yurkea added a configurable idle loop parameter to linux-next to avoid initialization crashes on M4 hardware triggered by default core state loss during WFI loops.[Hacker News]
Sven added emulation of Apple's SPRR and Guarded Execution Framework (GXF) to m1n1, permitting the Secure Page Table Monitor (SPTM) blob to run and restoring hypervisor capabilities on M4 chips.[Hacker News]
chaos_princess enabled full webcam and microphone functionality across M3 devices by updating the ISP driver and implementing support for a new High Frequency decimator.[Hacker News]
mildsunrise and chaos_princess reverse-engineered the SPMI-based ACE3 USB port controller, bringing USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt functionality to M3 Pro and Max devices.[Hacker News]