Linux on older Intel Macs without T2

[Paddy OPlastic]

Right after posting the above, system froze on kernel 6.12.
Tried wl driver again and got freeze on 6.12.
Checked to be sure and ibt=off was saved in grub.

Thanks for all the help, but at this point I think I will just stick with kernel 5.15 till support ends, and then get a usb wifi dongle.

Aha, the perfect engineering solution - stick with what works!

I did try to use an alternative driver on my 15,1 iMac but it turns out the wl module is the only one there is for it. The brcmsmac is the right open-source driver for your device, the trick is to get it working. This thread will still be here when your kernel support ends if you want to give it another go.

 

[thestickman]

Now most of the Intel Macs are no longer supported by the latest MacOS releases, they seem like a great candidate for a migration to Linux. I haven't seen much about that recently on this forum. If people are doing it, what Linux distro works best and what problems are typically encountered. Also with an unsupported Mac is there any reason not to go all in on Linux and completely wipe MacOS from the SSD?

I decided to ditch both Windows and macOS. I recently bought a refurbished 2015 Macbook Air and installed MX Linux 25 KDE plasma. It runs perfectly & on install wi-fi drivers were installed. This machine has zero scratches or dents in it & runs this flavor of Linux better than it ran macOS. I have Ubuntu installed on my gaming PC and it runs flawlessly, plays Steam games flawlessly. In a month or 2 I am going to purchase a 2014-15 Macbook Pro (always wanted one but never could afford) and install MX Linux 25 with KDE for the desktop.