Also present are a minikube Kubernetes distribution and the Anbox Cloud appliance, which allows developers to run Android apps. According to The Register, the available list of software is relatively extensive, including multiple Ubuntu LTS images, as well as Ubuntu 21.04 Hirsute Hippo and 21.10 Impish Indri. While WSL in Windows 11 has reduced the need for Multipass on Microsoft's desktop OS, the unavailability of something similar on Apple silicon means that the latest update will make it an effective solution for developers wanting to use their new M1 MacBooks for virtual machine development. Multipass already supported Windows and x86-Mac, and the latest update now ensures that it supports all major desktop platforms. According to Canonical, it will help users get a 'near-native experience for any Linux program' and will immensely help people who only need to use a Linux environment occasionally. Multipass 1.8 comes with a bunch of other new features as well, including 'Aliases,' which allow Multipass users to tie commands within a virtual machine to commands on the host OS. The company also claimed that the software can get Ubuntu running on M1-powered Macs in as little as 20 seconds, which should enable developers to get started with their projects rather than having to invest additional time and energy on setting up. In the press release announcing the update, Canonical claimed that the new feature will allow users to run Ubuntu VMs with minimal set-up and maximum efficiency. 13-Inch: M1 & M1 Pro Laptops ComparedĬanonical has added Ubuntu support for Apple silicon as part of the Multipass 1.8 update that enables the software to download and launch a virtual machine image with a single command.

That makes Multipass a great option for developers interested in running Linux on their M1-powered MacBooks. While VirtualBox does not support the M1's underlying ARM architecture, VMWare Fusion's Linux support for Apple silicon is still in the preview stage. Apart from the aforementioned software, M1 users do not currently have many options to run Linux on their machines.

Ubuntu vm on m1 mac