Linus Torvalds now builds the kernel on Ampere Arm chips instead of Apple's M chips.

Linus Torvalds, the architect behind the Linux kernel, is intensifying his exploration of Linux on the Arm64 architecture. Initially, Torvalds utilized a MacBook Air, powered by Apple's M chip, to craft a kernel that would run on Arm64. However, his recent endeavors have led him to pivot towards systems and devices powered by Ampere's AArch64.

Ampere Computing, a semiconductor research and development firm based in the United States, is renowned for its processors that are designed for desktops and servers using the Arm architecture. These processors have already seen action on various cloud computing platforms, including Oracle, showcasing their robust performance and adaptability.

Historically, Torvalds has been known for his preference for Intel processors when building the Linux kernel. However, in recent years, he switched his main device to an AMD Threadripper workstation, with most kernels released in the past few years being developed on AMD devices.

Starting with Linux Kernel 5.19, Torvalds began using a MacBook Air with an 8-core Apple M2 chip for developing Arm64 versions of the kernel, given that Apple’s A/M series chips are also based on the Arm architecture.

In the release notes for Linux Kernel 6.9, Linus Torvalds mentioned that he has started using a machine equipped with an Ampere Arm64 processor. Although he did not specify the system, it's speculated to be a version of the Ampere Altra series. Workstations powered by the Altra chip can have up to 128 cores, significantly surpassing the performance of the M2 chip.

Looking ahead, Torvalds plans to continue using the MacBook Air for Arm64 Linux builds, but only for weekly testing rather than as his primary device. For day-to-day use, an Ampere-powered system is likely to be his mainstay. This approach, however, seems to be specifically for the development of Linux on Arm64, with the AMD Threadripper remaining the probable choice for x86_64 builds.