Introduction
Welcome! This is the home for Mactel (Intel CPU-based Macintosh Computers) running Ubuntu. Here you'll find all the supported versions of Ubuntu for your Mac, whether it be a Macbook, Macbook Pro, iMac, Air, etc. This page is primarily for (potential) users. If you would like to get started as a member of the Mactel Support Team, please go to the Mactel Support Team Home.
What Model Hardware do I Have?
To determine which version / generation / hardware revision your Mac is...
...under OSX,
- Click in OS X on the Apple on the top left
- Click "About this Mac"
- Click "More Info..."
- Find the generation / version in the "Model Identifier" row.
Alternatively, run in a terminal:
sysctl hw.model
...under Ubuntu, Open a terminal by going to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal, and type:
sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name
Mactel Community Documentation
Generic installation instructions for dual and triple booting can be found here: Apple Intel Installation
There is some info regarding use of Apple Keyboards here: AppleKeyboard Wiki
The support matrix lists our best supported and most recent help guides. Guides for older version of Ubuntu can be found at the product page for your Mac.
Mactel Wiki Support Matrix
product |
model-id |
release date |
Best supported release |
Most recent release |
Most recent LTS |
1,1 |
early 2006 |
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2,1 |
late 2006, mid 2007 |
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3,1 |
late 2007 |
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4,1 |
early 2008 |
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5,1 |
late 2008 |
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5,2 |
early 2009 |
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6,1 |
late 2009 |
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1,1 1,2 |
early 2006 |
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2,1 2,2 |
late 2006 |
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3,1 |
mid 2007 |
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4,1 |
early 2008 |
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5,1 5,2 |
late 2008, early 2009 |
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5,3 |
mid 2009 |
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5,4 |
mid 2009 |
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5,5 |
mid 2009 |
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6,2 |
mid 2010 |
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7,1 |
mid 2010 |
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8,1 |
early 2011 |
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8,2 |
early 2011 |
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8,3 |
early 2011 |
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9,1 |
mid 2012 |
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9.2 |
mid 2012 |
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10,1 |
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11,1 |
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11,2 |
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11,3 |
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1,1 |
early 2008 |
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2,1 |
late 2008 |
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6,2 |
mid 2013 |
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4,1 4,2 |
early/mid 2006 |
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5,1 |
late 2006 |
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6,1 |
late 2006 |
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7,1 |
mid 2007 |
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8,1 |
early 2008 |
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9,1 |
March 2009 |
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1,1 |
early 2006 |
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2,1 |
early 2007 |
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3,1 |
early 2008 |
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6,1 |
late 2013 |
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1,1 |
early/late 2006 |
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2,1 |
mid 2007 |
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3,1 |
mid 2009 |
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4,1 |
mid 2010 |
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5,1 |
mid 2011 |
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1,1 |
early 2006 |
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2,1 |
early 2008 |
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Mactel Product Pages
Mac_mini start page
iMac start page
MacPro start page
xServe start page
Additional Hints
If you are working with a Virtual Machine (VMWare Fusion, Parallels, VirtualBox, Qemu), try your VM's support area. Running Ubuntu in a VM is completely different than running Ubuntu "on your Mac". Feel free to ask your question in the forums, but much if not all of the support pages linked below will not apply to you. When posting in the forum, be sure to mention that you are using Ubuntu in a VM and what VM you are using! If you are not using a VM, continue to the next step.
If you have a hardware revision of a Mac, that is new or unlisted, post your Mac version and the output of 'lspci' to the Apple Users Ubuntu Forums. In this way the support team can see what hardware you have. Try to use the wiki page for the latest version of your Mac. Note anything that works on your new hardware.
The support forum
If you like to ask a question or post a comment about Ubuntu on Macintosh hardware, use the Apple Users support forum
Please note:
- When posting please include your Mac hardware revision in your post so that everybody knows, what hardware you are dealing with.
- Additionally, when the solution is found, mark the thread solved.
- Also, if you figure the problem out yourself, please post the solution so that others might benefit as well.
See Also
If you cannot find help from the wiki, also check the:
commenting out the Full Mactel Wiki Support Matrix because it's even more difficult to be updated than the above matrix.
Full Mactel Wiki Support Matrix
product
model-id
release date
Ubuntu 11.10
(Oneiric Ocelot)
Ubuntu 11.04
(Natty Narwhal)
Ubuntu 10.10
(Maverick Meerkat)
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
(Lucid Lynx)
Ubuntu 9.10
(Karmic Koala)
Ubuntu 9.04
(Jaunty Jackalope)
Ubuntu 8.10
(Intrepid Ibex)
Ubuntu 8.04/8.04.x LTS
(Hardy Heron)
MacBook
1,1
early 2006
MacBook1-1/Karmic
MacBook1-1/Jaunty
MacBook1-1/Hardy
2,1
late 2006, mid 2007
MacBook2-1/Maverick
MacBook2-1/Lucid
MacBook2-1/Karmic
MacBook2-1/Jaunty
MacBook2-1/Intrepid
MacBook2-1/Hardy
3,1
late 2007
MacBook3-1/Jaunty
MacBook3-1/Intrepid
4,1
early 2008
MacBook4-1/Lucid
MacBook4-1/Karmic
MacBook4-1/Jaunty
MacBook4-1/Intrepid
5,1
late 2008
MacBook5-1/Lucid
MacBook5-1/Karmic
MacBook5-1/Jaunty
MacBook5-1/Intrepid
5,2
early 2009
MacBook5-2/Karmic
6,1
late 2009
MacBook6-1/Lucid
MacBook6-1/Karmic
MacBook Pro
1,1 1,2
early 2006
MacBookPro1-1_2-1/Intrepid
2,1 2,2
late 2006
MacBookPro2-1_2-2/Intrepid
3,1
mid 2007
MacBookPro3-1/Maverick
MacBookPro3-1/Karmic
MacBookPro3-1/Intrepid
MacbookPro3-1/Hardy
4,1
early 2008
MacBookPro4-1/Maverick
MacBookPro4-1/Lucid
MacBookPro4-1/Karmic
MacBookPro4-1/Jaunty
MacBookPro4-1/Intrepid
MacbookPro4-1/Hardy
5,1 5,2
late 2008, early 2009
MacBookPro5-1_5-2/Natty
MacBookPro5-1_5-2/Maverick
MacBookPro5-1_5-2/Lucid
MacBookPro5-1_5-2/Karmic
MacBookPro5-1_5-2/Jaunty
MacBookPro5-1/Intrepid
5,3
mid 2009
MacBookPro5-3/Lucid
MacBookPro5-3/Karmic
5,4
mid 2009
MacBookPro5-4/Lucid
5,5
mid 2009
MacBookPro5-5/Lucid
MacBookPro5-5/Karmic
MacBookPro5-5/Jaunty
6,2
mid 2010
MacBookPro6-2/Oneiric
MacBookPro6-2/Natty
MacBookPro6-2/Maverick
MacBookPro6-2/Lucid
7,1
mid 2010
MacBookPro7-1/Oneiric
MacBookPro7-1/Natty
MacBookPro7-1/Maverick
MacBookPro7-1/Lucid
8,1 8,2 8,3
Early/Late 2011
MacBookPro8-1/Oneiric
MacBookPro8-1/Natty
MacBookPro8-1/Maveric
MacBook Air
1,1
early 2008
MacBookAir1-1/Lucid
MacBookAir1-1/Karmic
MacBookAir1-1/Intrepid
MacBookAir1-1/Hardy
2,1
late 2008
MacBookAir2-1/Lucid
MacBookAir2-1/Karmic
MacBookAir2-1/Jaunty
iMac
4,1 4,2
early/mid 2006
Intel_iMac
5,1
late 2006
Intel_iMac
6,1
late 2006
Intel_iMac
7,1
mid 2007
iMac7-1/Lucid
Intel_iMac
8,1
early 2008
Intel_iMac
9,1
March 2009
Intel_iMac
Mac Pro
1,1
early 2006
Mac Pro
2,1
early 2007
Mac Pro
3,1
early 2008
Mac Pro
Mac Pro
Mac Pro
Mac mini
1,1
early/late 2006
Macmini1-1/Lucid
2,1
mid 2007
3,1
mid 2009
Mac_mini3-1/Maverick
Mac_mini3-1/Jaunty
4,1
mid 2010
Macmini4-1/Maverick
Macmini4-1/Lucid
Xserve
1,1
early 2006
Xserve1-1
2,1
early 2008
Xserve2-1