macOS 27 beta boots Asahi Linux off Apple Silicon

OS Platforms

Partition's still there, but good luck seeing it and don't upgrade until fix lands, says team

macOS 27 may have dealt a blow to Intel Macs, but it has also caused headaches for Linux on Apple Silicon, according to the Asahi Linux team. 

Apple's next  operating system debuted at WWDC this week and promptly landed as a beta, but the Asahi developers say the update has "changed how the boot picker and Startup Disk application detect valid OS boot volumes." 

The upshot is that the Asahi partition is no longer visible, which means no Linux booting on Apple Silicon for the time being.

The advice for Asahi Linux users is not to upgrade to macOS 27 until the issue is resolved.

The team added: "If you insist on trying out macOS 27 as soon as possible, please ensure you install a secondary copy of macOS 26 first, or install macOS 27 itself on a secondary volume."

They've also updated the installer to prevent installs from running on macOS 27 for now. For anyone who ignored all of the above, "we will not support users who have installed the macOS 27 beta without ensuring at least one stable version of macOS is installed."

Considering macOS 27 is in beta, the issue may be accidental rather than an attempt by Apple to block Linux on its hardware. The Asahi team said it has filed bug report.

The good news for anyone who pulled the trigger on installing the macOS 27 beta is that although the partition might not be visible, it hasn't gone anywhere.

The Asahi team wrote: "If you have already upgraded to the beta and noticed that your Asahi partition has disappeared, do not stress. Your Asahi partition is still there, and you have not lost any data."

Asahi Linux has come a long way on Apple Silicon despite some turbulence, including a leadership shake-up earlier this year. The project released Fedora Asahi Remix 44 in April and remains the leading option for Linux on Apple hardware. This is a bump in the road, not a dead end.

And to anyone who installed a beta OS without backups or a fallback plan... well. You know. ®