Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

radus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 12, 2009
725
456
I own a Mac Book Pro 15" 2018 i9 and a MacMini 2018 i7, booth are equipped with an T2 security chip.

It is not possible, even when all Security is disabled and external Boot enabled, to install and run ubuntu (not using the internal nvme ssd, not on an external thunderbolt 3 m2 nvme ssd, not on an external usb-c ssd).
The only way to "play" with Linux is using a VM.

Does Apple fear Linux aka. Android that much ? or is their Team not sufficient enough to build / program a computer to allow us to run Linux.
 
It's about security. If you boot from an external device, they still want to make sure that your data is as secure as possible. A little while ago, if you installed macOS on an USB drive and booted the computer from there, you could gain access to all local data...
 
  • Like
Reactions: russell_314
Well I could live with a disabled internal ssd, and an enabled external ssd (be it thunderbolt 3 nvme or usb 3.1) for Linux ... .
But a complete stop for other OS's, that's not what I and probably most of the users want.
 
Well I could live with a disabled internal ssd, and an enabled external ssd (be it thunderbolt 3 nvme or usb 3.1) for Linux ... .
But a complete stop for other OS's, that's not what I and probably most of the users want.
Is this now about installing or actually booting from USB? Because you should be able to boot from an existing drive without any checks if you disabled the settings. Otherwise it will only allow you to boot from certified OSes.

There you go: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/01/15/how-to-make-new-t2-secured-macs-boot-from-external-drives

And one more: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/11/06/mac-t2chip-linux/

EDIT: And that's it, really. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208330
 
Last edited:
Theoretically it should work if it was set to no security, but I could never get Ubuntu to boot off of an external drive on my iMac Pro...it works perfectly fine on my older MacBook Pro.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Val-kyrie
With the coming of the t2/t3 "secure enclave" b.s., those who "want Linux" are probably going to have to resort to economical "build-'em yourself" boxes on which to run it.

Android?
You can run that on the Mac now with the NOX app player...
 
Is this now about installing or actually booting from USB? Because you should be able to boot from an existing drive without any checks if you disabled the settings. Otherwise it will only allow you to boot from certified OSes.

There you go: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/01/15/how-to-make-new-t2-secured-macs-boot-from-external-drives

And one more: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/11/06/mac-t2chip-linux/

EDIT: And that's it, really. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208330


This works for BootCamp Windows 10 but never ever for Linux / Ubuntu.
[doublepost=1549902516][/doublepost]
I don’t think this is true.

There is specifically an option to disable boot security. This article references the same thing: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2018/11/apple-t2-chip-cant-boot-linux

I wish you where right, but Ubuntu 18.04 or 18.10 does not install ! and if installed on an external nvme tb3 ssd (using an intel nuc) it does not boot on the Mac.
 
Theoretically it should work if it was set to no security, but I could never get Ubuntu to boot off of an external drive on my iMac Pro...it works perfectly fine on my older MacBook Pro.

For me, this is simply evidence that Apple is conditioning users for a future where Macs are locked down to Apple’s OS and other OSes are nonexistent. I fully expect this to happen when Apple transitions to ARM.

The shift to services (especially user-targeted ad-based revenue) in technology will mean that tech companies will try to lock users user onto a single platform—Google, MS, or Apple, each with its own App Store and approved apps. Google may have the upper hand here as it’s apps and search engine are cross-platform.
 
  • Like
Reactions: radus and AnonMac50
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.