Bottom line: **Technically possible, but not «easy,» and definitely not a «just install Gentoo or Alpine» situation.** If buying a new MacBook specifically to run Linux, he needs to adjust his expectations significantly. The only realistic path is **Asahi Linux** (or a VM), and it only works well on **M1/M2** chips. Gentoo and Alpine are not the recommended first choices here.

### The Reality of Linux on Apple Silicon

Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and newer) do not boot Linux like a normal PC. You cannot just download a Gentoo or Alpine ISO and boot from a USB stick. The hardware (GPU, boot chain, power management) is highly proprietary, and the Linux support that exists is the result of the **Asahi Linux** project reverse-engineering it .

**The Main Limitations (as of early 2026):**
* **Chip Support:** Full support is essentially limited to **M1 and M2** chips. M3 support is experimental (GPU acceleration is missing, making it very slow), and M4/M5 are not ready for daily use .
* **Missing Features:** Even on M1/M2, some hardware features are still broken or missing. Common issues include external monitors over USB-C, Thunderbolt, and sometimes built-in microphones or speakers depending on the model .
* **Battery Life & Stability:** Users report significantly worse battery life compared to macOS (e.g., losing 30% overnight in sleep instead of 3-5%) and occasional instability with Wi-Fi or peripherals .

### What About Gentoo and Alpine?

Preference for Gentoo and Alpine makes this harder, not easier.

* **Gentoo:** There is a **Gentoo Wiki guide** for installing on Apple Silicon, but it explicitly relies on the **Asahi installer** to set up the boot environment (m1n1 + U-Boot) before you can even start the Gentoo stage3 tarball process . It is a complex, manual process, and the guide warns that attempting to install the necessary boot components manually is not recommended or supported.
* **Alpine:** Alpine Linux has a kernel package for Apple Silicon (`linux-asahi`), which means the kernel exists . However, there is **no beginner-friendly, official installer** for Apple Silicon comparable to the Fedora Asahi Remix. Igor would be largely on his own to get a bootable system working, and hardware support would depend entirely on how well that kernel package is maintained for his specific Mac model.

### The Recommended Path (If He Insists on a Mac)

If buy a new MacBook (ideally an **M2** model, not M3/M4) if want Linux, the sane approach is:

1. **Install Fedora Asahi Remix:** This is the **flagship, officially supported distribution** of the Asahi project. It handles the partitioning, bootloader, and hardware enablement automatically . It is the path of least resistance.
2. **Run Gentoo or Alpine in a VM:** If he specifically needs Gentoo or Alpine for work, the most reliable way is to run them inside a virtual machine (using UTM, Parallels, or VMware) on top of macOS or Fedora Asahi. This avoids all the hardware driver headaches, though performance and battery life will take a hit .

### The Honest Recommendation

If primary goal is to buy a **new computer to run Linux** (especially Gentoo or Alpine) as a daily driver, **a MacBook is a poor choice.**

The effort required to get a subpar experience (worse battery, missing ports/features, potential instability) is high. He would be much better served buying a high-quality **x86 laptop** (like a ThinkPad, Framework, or Dell XPS) where Gentoo and Alpine install normally, all hardware works out of the box, and he has full control. «With help from me or Claude» cannot overcome the fundamental hardware limitations imposed by Apple's proprietary design; the help would mostly consist of troubleshooting why the Wi-Fi dropped or why the screen won't wake from sleep