Why I uninstalled Arch Linux

After documenting my Arch Linux installation journey, I share why I ultimately uninstalled it from my MacBook Pro.

Recently, I installed Arch Linux on a 2015 MacBook Pro. While the novelty of running Arch on a MacBook was nice, it wasn’t exactly practical, to say the least.

Package Issues

One day, I decided to update all my packages. Before I knew it, I rebooted to a black screen. I ended up wasting five hours troubleshooting, only to realize the issue was caused by a faulty Hyprland plugin that hadn’t been updated for the new Hyprland version.

Hyprland Being Hyprland

Due to the nature of Hyprland, I sank hours into just getting it to function like a normal desktop environment. I couldn’t do anything without falling into a cycle of ricing or installing yet another package. Every time I fixed one thing, I found myself tweaking something else. It was like an endless rabbit hole of configuration, and while that’s fun for some, it wasn’t what I wanted from my daily driver.

MacBook Hell

Running Arch Linux on a MacBook is far from ideal. Since it’s not the most “well-supported” platform, troubleshooting issues meant relying on outdated forum threads and wiki pages. macOS-specific hardware quirks, like power management, audio, and WiFi, all had their own unique problems that weren’t straightforward to fix. Sure, I got everything mostly working, but it always felt like a fragile setup, ready to break with the next update.

Switching Back to macOS

After switching back to macOS, I immediately noticed a massive performance boost. For reference, osu!(lazer) on the OpenGL renderer used to run at around 45 FPS (fluctuating up to 60 FPS) on macOS before installing Arch. Post-Arch, it stabilized at 60 FPS. But after switching back to macOS, I was getting 70 FPS in-game and around 100 FPS in menus. That’s when I realized-maybe macOS isn’t so bad after all.

And it wasn’t just osu!. The entire system felt smoother. Video playback, animations, even general responsiveness-everything was just better. It made me appreciate how well Apple optimizes their software for their hardware. I had spent so much time trying to make Arch usable when macOS was already polished out of the box.

Losses

Of course, switching back wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were some trade-offs:

• Steam Proton is gone - This one doesn’t even need an explanation.
• No more AUR - If you’ve ever used the AUR (Arch User Repository), you know how powerful it is. Having access to thousands of community-maintained packages with a single command is something I miss. brew just doesn’t compare-it’s slower, clunkier, and lacks the same variety of software.
• No tiling window managers: I got used to the workflow of a tiling WM like Hyprland, and macOS’s tiling solutions (like yabai) just aren’t the same. Managing windows efficiently requires more effort now.

Afterword

At the end of the day, Arch Linux is a great OS, but it wasn’t the right choice for this machine. If I were running it on a desktop or a well-supported laptop, I might still be using it. But on a MacBook, it was just too much of a headache.

macOS may not have the raw flexibility of Linux, but it works. I don’t have to worry about updates breaking my system, my battery life is better, and everything is just smooth. Sure, I miss some aspects of Arch, but I’ve come to appreciate the stability and optimization that macOS provides. Sometimes, it’s better to have an OS that just works rather than one that constantly needs fixing.

Would I use Arch again? Probably (but not on a MacBook), however it did make for a good experience (debugging and installation wise), and also a better understanding of how bootloaders, and computers work in general. I might also make another webOS in the future!!