In 2025, Linux inventor Linus Torvalds isn’t using new hardware, but rather an eight-year-old GPU. He’s also said to have turned his back on Apple and switched to Intel.
In times of AI accelerators, GPU upgrades every year and always new driver problems, the decision of Linus Torvalds seems almost out of time: the father of the Linux kernel should still rely on his Radeon RX 580, a Polaris graphics card from 2017, in 2025. At the same time, it is said that he is turning his back on Apple Silicon and using an Intel-based notebook instead.
Evidence of this is said to have emerged from statements made during a discussion about a problem with Display Stream Compression (DSC) in the Linux kernel 6.17. There Torvalds mentioned that his “boring old Radeon RX 580” was affected.
Although the Radeon RX 580 is likely to be overwhelmed with current games, it is still sufficient for compiling kernel code in combination with an AMD Ryzen Threadripper system. The exact technical specifications of the computer used are not publicly confirmed, but it seems realistic that Torvalds will also rely on an older version in this case.
The change in the notebook is also not confirmed, but there should be hints from the LKML environment that indicate that he has said goodbye to his M1 Macbook from Apple and has switched to a device with an Intel processor with integrated i915 graphics.