Risks and trade-offs

Seven honest things to know before you commit. None of them are deal-breakers on their own; together they help you decide whether this is the right move for you right now.

1. Future Apple service may need macOS back on the machine

If the laptop later needs a battery, screen, or board repair, Apple may refuse to work on it while Linux is installed. You'd reinstall macOS from Recovery (hold ⌘-R at boot for the local Recovery, or Option-⌘-R for Internet Recovery if the local one is gone) and restore from your Time Machine backup before taking it in. That's a half-day's work but it's reliable. The Time Machine backup is what makes this reversible — that's why we treat it as non-negotiable.

2. Your disk isn't encrypted by default on Linux

macOS encrypted your disk with FileVault. Linux can encrypt with LUKS, but it's a choice you have to make during install — the box is unticked by default. On T2 Macs there's a measurable performance hit from LUKS, and it slightly worsens the already-shaky sleep situation, which is why some guides suggest leaving it off.

Honest take: for a laptop that leaves the house, turn it on anyway. A stolen unencrypted laptop is every file you own in someone else's hands.

3. You'll lose Apple ecosystem features

Gone: iMessage on the desktop, FaceTime, AirDrop with your iPhone, Universal Clipboard, Continuity Camera, Sidecar, Handoff. iMessage history specifically cannot be migrated. If any of these are part of how you actually live, think hard before switching.

Workarounds exist (Signal or WhatsApp for messaging, KDE Connect for some phone integration), but they aren't drop-in replacements.

4. You'll be running community-maintained kernel patches

On T2 Macs especially, the kernel modules that make your hardware work come from the t2linux project — volunteers, not paid Red Hat or Canonical engineers. The project is mature and competent, but if Apple ships a firmware change tomorrow that breaks something, it's their schedule that fixes it, not a vendor SLA.

This is fine for a personal machine. It's a poor choice for a work laptop you depend on for income, unless you have a backup machine.

5. macOS updates can break your Linux side after a successful install

Even once everything works, a routine macOS update (if you're dual-booting) can change the T2 firmware in ways that affect Linux. Sleep worked fine for many people, then a macOS Sonoma update broke it. Read the t2linux state page before accepting macOS updates if you're dual-booting.

6. The "go back" path works, but isn't instant

If after a month you decide Linux isn't for you, the path home is: reinstall macOS from Recovery (⌘-R at boot for the local copy, or Option-⌘-R for the internet version), then restore from your Time Machine backup. We have a step-by-step recipe on the going back to macOS page. Total time: roughly half a day, depending on your internet connection.

It's not "click a button and you're back," but it does work, and it's why the backup step at the start of the guide isn't optional. Knowing this is here lowers the perceived stakes of trying.

7. Don't set a firmware password on T2 Macs

The Startup Security Utility settings you do need to change (lowering Secure Boot, allowing external boot) are safe and reversible. The firmware password is the exception.

How to use this list

You don't have to be comfortable with all seven to proceed — most people aren't. What matters is that none of them surprise you later, and that the ones that do bother you have a plan attached. If a particular item gives you serious pause, that's useful information — talk it through with someone who's switched, or stay on macOS for another release cycle. Linux will still be here.