Apple
MacBook Pro 16-inch (2019)
Eighteen MacBookPro16,1 owners show that Omarchy can run, but graphics mode determines battery life, suspend reliability and external-display behavior.
Bottom line
Omarchy runs on MacBookPro16,1, but this is still a high-involvement T2 Linux machine. Ten Omarchy owners establish a real installation path and current desktop use; they also document repeated failed wake, a clean-install graphics hang, Touch Bar and keyboard-light failures, weak microphone input and a Thunderbolt regression. Fedora and CachyOS owners show that careful integrated-graphics setups can improve daily use, but they do not turn the machine into a macOS-equivalent laptop.
If you already own one, preserve a recovery path, expect to choose between integrated-graphics efficiency and easier multi-monitor or discrete-GPU use, and test two suspend cycles before trusting lid close. If you are buying used for Omarchy, this only makes sense at a steep discount and with tolerance for T2-specific maintenance. Do not apply this verdict to the Radeon Pro 5600M version.
What is reported
12 findings with cited evidenceInstall and boot
Omarchy's current Intel Mac path installs the T2 kernel, Apple wireless firmware, audio configuration, fan service and basic Touch Bar support. Several exact-model owners reached usable Omarchy desktops, but one clean Omarchy 4.0.2 installation hard-hung after graphical login while the internal panel remained on the Radeon GPU.
A successful installer run does not establish a usable first session. Keep the documented integrated-graphics recovery available, and remember that Omarchy's supported install erases the drive after Apple's Secure Boot is disabled.
Desktop and graphics
Owners run Linux desktops with Intel graphics primary and use DRI_PRIME or a separate Radeon-first session for heavier work. The clean Omarchy 4.0.2 report instead hard-hung on the default Radeon display path, while the T2 project still rates hybrid graphics as partial because the Radeon GPU cannot be switched cleanly during a session.
Intel-first is the lower-power starting point. The Radeon GPU can add performance and external-display capacity, but today it can also require a reboot or a different session and can destabilize resume.
Internal display and brightness
The internal panel reached graphical login on the Radeon path and a working desktop after the same owner forced Intel graphics. Fedora and CachyOS owners also report ordinary laptop use on the built-in display.
The panel itself works. Black screens in this corpus occur during desktop startup or resume, so a lit login screen does not settle graphics or suspend reliability.
Keyboard, hotkeys and backlight
The keyboard and basic Touch Bar function-key mode work, but exact owners report that Touch Bar presentation cannot always be made persistent, that the bar can freeze after resume and that keyboard lighting can return at zero after screensaver or suspend.
Typing is supported; macOS-like automatic controls are not. Direct brightness state changes and a saved-state workaround restore keyboard lighting, while the Touch Bar can still require a reboot after sleep.
Touchpad and pointing
The T2 project lists the trackpad as working, and owners reached ordinary desktop use. One Omarchy suspend report returned with the keyboard and trackpad dead, and the project still lacks macOS-equivalent Force Touch and palm rejection.
Basic pointing is available, but input quality and post-resume recovery are separate questions. Test typing and trackpad use after repeated sleep, not only after a fresh boot.
Fingerprint and biometrics
Apple's Touch ID sensor depends on the T2 Secure Enclave, which the T2 Linux project lists as unsupported.
Treat Touch ID as unavailable. Working keyboard or Touch Bar keys do not imply fingerprint support.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Exact-model owners report connected daily use, and Omarchy installs the Apple Broadcom firmware used by the T2 stack. The current T2 guide warns that wpa_supplicant 2.11 can break this brcmfmac path on Arch-family systems and rates Bluetooth as partial, especially on BCM4377 hardware and congested 2.4 GHz networks.
Wi-Fi has a working path, but a package update can still remove it. Keep wired or tethered recovery available, prefer iwd or the documented offload workaround if the Arch regression appears, and do not install broadcom-wl for this machine.
Speakers, microphone and audio
Internal audio can produce sound, but the exact-model reports show three different limits: an Apple BCE scheduling failure associated with random reboots, pops and dropouts with the full six-speaker DSP graph, and microphone input that was too quiet for calls before model-specific DSP processing.
Do not collapse detection into a working verdict. One owner found a reduced speaker graph stable; another measured about a 15 dB microphone improvement with DSP, but that microphone setup is not packaged for Omarchy.
Camera
The T2 project lists the 720p camera as working through its support stack, but none of the 18 retained owners documents a MacBookPro16,1 video-call test.
Project support is encouraging, not an exact-model field verdict. Test the camera and microphone together in the application you use and again after suspend.
Suspend and resume
Four Omarchy owners in one discussion reported failed wake or incomplete input recovery. A fifth exact-model owner later reported reliable but slow resume with the same helper, while the Touch Bar still failed to restart. A separate current Radeon report ended in a forced power cycle, and a tuned Fedora owner reported that deep sleep generally worked.
Suspend is possible, but not dependable enough to assume. Test repeated lid-close cycles with the GPU mode, docks and peripherals you actually use; even a successful wake can leave the Touch Bar, keyboard light or Thunderbolt unavailable.
External displays and docks
Owners have driven multiple external displays, including a three-monitor CachyOS setup, but the route matters. One Omarchy change broke a second Thunderbolt display until early module loading was removed. Omarchy later closed that issue as fixed or superseded by Quattro, without an exact-model owner retest. A later T2 kernel reduced a previously working second 4K stream to 1080p.
External displays work, but the exact dock, cable, kernel and GPU session are part of the result. Intel graphics may struggle with several large screens; a Radeon-first session improves capacity while increasing power use and resume risk.
Battery, power and thermals
The Fedora owner reduced light-use draw from 40 to 60 watts after installation to roughly 13 to 25 watts, usually 15 to 18 watts, but still reported only two to three hours of battery life. A CachyOS owner measured 18 to 20 watts while browsing with Intel graphics primary. The T2 project's Radeon-off service cut its test machine from about 20 watts to 9 watts at half brightness, but requires a reboot to restore the GPU.
A working battery is not the same as laptop-like endurance. GPU state, video decoding and suspend behavior dominate the experience; use measured power draw and overnight drain rather than a desktop battery estimate.
Changes over time
15 dated events- Repeated suspend exposes an early Radeon recovery limit
One suspend and resume completed; the next rebooted the machine. Forcing the Radeon power state high after wake improved that older T2 stack's behavior.
- Four Omarchy owners report failed or incomplete wake
Across Omarchy 3.2-era reports, the screen stayed black, the machine powered off or the keyboard and trackpad failed to return normally.
- Touch Bar default mode fails to persist
Function keys and the Fn toggle worked, but the requested media and brightness presentation did not become the default.
- Direct control restores keyboard lighting after suspend
A Fedora owner found the keyboard backlight off after wake and restored it by writing the brightness value directly.
- Omarchy Thunderbolt change breaks a second display
Early Thunderbolt module loading reduced one two-monitor setup to a single display; removing the change restored both.
- Apple BCE audio failure appears in random reboot traces
One Ubuntu owner reproduced the scheduling failure on two T2 kernel versions while investigating otherwise unexplained reboots.
- Intel-first Fedora setup lowers power and restores deep sleep
After tuning, one owner reported 13 to 25 watts during light use and generally working deep sleep, with Touch Bar and Thunderbolt failures still remaining after wake.
- A fifth Omarchy owner gets reliable but incomplete resume
The model-specific helper resumed reliably but slowly for this owner, while the Touch Bar returned in a broken state and its service would not restart.
- Omarchy closes the Thunderbolt issue under Quattro
The project marked the regression fixed, resolved or superseded by its current Quattro implementation. No exact-model owner retest is recorded in the thread.
- Reduced speaker DSP graph avoids pops and dropouts
The full six-speaker profile glitched on one machine; the owner documented a smaller graph that remained stable in that setup.
- Second 4K stream regresses on a T2 kernel
A dock that drove two 4K displays on kernel 6.18.44 limited the second stream to 1080p on 7.1.8.
- Radeon resume fails and requires a hard power cycle
Kernel traces showed a fatal GPU reset failure after lid-close suspend on a Radeon Pro 5500M system.
- Model-specific DSP raises microphone level
An Omarchy owner measured about a 15 dB increase over the raw microphone path without clipping, but the dependency was not packaged for Arch or Omarchy.
- Saved brightness state fixes a zero-level restore
An Omarchy 4.0.1 owner traced the dark keyboard after screensaver or suspend to a stale brightness value and confirmed a seeded-state workaround.
- Clean Omarchy 4.0.2 install hard-hangs on Radeon graphics
The machine reached graphical login but froze after the session started until Intel graphics was forced as primary.