I wanted to run Omarchy on an old 2021 MacBook Pro with an M1 Max chip.
The normal Omarchy ISO is not the right path for Apple Silicon. The setup that worked for me was:
macOS → Asahi Arch Minimal → Omarchy MX Mac
This gives you a normal dual boot. macOS stays intact and you can choose Linux from Apple’s startup menu.
This guide is for the 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
Before you start
Back up anything important first.
I gave Linux about 200 GB on the internal SSD. 100 GB should be enough for a basic setup.
Do not manually partition the disk with Disk Utility. Let the Asahi installer handle it.
Keep the Mac connected to power during the install.
1. Check the Mac model
Open Terminal in macOS:
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep -E "Model Identifier|Chip"
The two M1 Max models are:
- 14-inch:
MacBookPro18,4/apple,j314c - 16-inch:
MacBookPro18,2/apple,j316c
2. Install Asahi
From macOS Terminal:
curl https://asahi-alarm.org/installer-bootstrap.sh | sh
When the installer asks which system to install, choose Asahi Arch Minimal.
Do not choose the desktop version. Omarchy will provide the desktop.
Set the Linux disk size when prompted. I used about 200 GB.
Follow the Apple boot and recovery steps shown by the installer. These can change, so use the instructions on screen rather than an old guide.
When finished, reboot and choose the new Linux entry from Apple’s startup options.
3. Boot into Asahi
The first login is the Asahi root account.
If you are using the standard Asahi Alarm image, use the credentials
shown by the installer. On the setup I used, this was root.
Once logged in, connect to Wi-Fi:
nmtui
Then test it:
ping -c 3 archlinux.org
4. Update the base system
pacman -Syu --needed curl gnupg linux-asahi-headers networkmanager iwd
Let this finish completely.
5. Check the Asahi system
uname -m
pacman -Q linux-asahi
tr '\0' '\n' </proc/device-tree/compatible
Architecture should be aarch64. Your M1 Max device ID should include
apple,j314c or apple,j316c.
6. Install Omarchy Quattro
curl -fLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maralcbr/omarchy-mx-mac/main/install-omarchy-mx-mac.sh
bash install-omarchy-mx-mac.sh
The installer downloads and verifies the current signed Omarchy Mac release.
It will ask for the username and password for your normal Omarchy account. This is the account you will use every day.
Let the installer finish. Do not interrupt package installs or builds.
7. Reboot
reboot
Choose the Linux entry from Apple’s startup options. You should now land in Omarchy.
8. Check the basics
Test display and brightness, keyboard and backlight, trackpad, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio, microphone, webcam, battery status, suspend and resume, and the SD card.
External displays are a separate issue on Apple Silicon. Check your exact dock and monitor setup before relying on it.
9. Check the installed version
cat /usr/share/omarchy/version
omarchy-migrate --pending
The migration command should normally return nothing after a clean install.
10. Keep it updated
omarchy update
Stick to the Omarchy update path rather than manually replacing the Asahi kernel, firmware, or repositories.
If the install fails
A failed Omarchy install does not mean the Mac is broken. macOS is separate and can still be booted from Apple’s startup options.
Do not reboot immediately. Wait for the installer to return to a shell.
Check that no package process is still running:
ps aux | grep -E 'pacman|makepkg|dart|flutter' | grep -v grep
Check for a stale Pacman lock:
test -e /var/lib/pacman/db.lck && echo LOCK_EXISTS || echo NO_LOCK
If no pacman or makepkg process is running and the lock exists:
rm /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
Bring the base system back to a clean state:
pacman -Syu
Then download a fresh installer and try again:
rm -f install-omarchy-mx-mac.sh
curl -fLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maralcbr/omarchy-mx-mac/main/install-omarchy-mx-mac.sh
bash install-omarchy-mx-mac.sh
The installer is designed to be rerun. I recovered from a failed package build this way without reinstalling Asahi or touching macOS.
If Linux stops booting
Shut down the Mac. Hold the power button until Loading startup options… appears, then boot macOS.
Do not start deleting partitions. In particular, do not delete the Apple recovery partition.
Final setup
MacBook Pro M1 Max
│
├── macOS
│
└── Asahi Linux
└── Omarchy Quattro
That is the whole setup. No VM, no Docker layer, and no changes to macOS beyond giving Asahi its own space on the internal SSD.