How to bypass the Secure Boot and T2 chip to install Linux on the new MacBooks? All suggestions don’t let me boot from Linux USB flash drive

I bought a 16-in MacBook Pro about a month and a half ago.

For the first time ever I can't boot into USB no matter what I do. I followed the recovery instructions that told me to disable all secure boot related things, but every single live Linux USB fails with kernel panic immediately.

The only thing I can add is that after following online instructions — such as Apple’s official instructions — I can boot some flavors of Linux, but the keyboard and mouse freeze instantly upon boot. The clock is moving and power button is recognized.

Is there any way to cleanly get Linux on this machine? It would be extremely preferable considering it's my primary machine.

Solution 1:

According to the article State of Linux on the MacBook Pro 2016 & 2017, which was updated just a few days ago, shows that some functions do not work, such as Audio input & output, Touch ID and Wi-Fi.

Nevertheless, the article Arch Linux - Mac contains solutions for all these problems, but also has this warning:

Warning: This does not apply to more recent macbooks. These are very poorly supported. See here for more information.

The "here" link points to the above State of Linux article.

My conclusion is that there is no Linux distribution that promises full hardware support for the MacBook Pro, except for some older models.

The only solution for a fully functional Linux on the MacBook Pro is to install it using virtualisation software such as VirtualBox or Parallels Desktop. This would be a solution that would fully work, because Linux fully supports the virtual hardware exposed by these products.