It's understandable you may have missed some information, so to correct the record (and ensure other readers are aware), Apple highlighted virtualization in their announcement of M1, specifically highlighting Linux. It's been supported from the moment it was public.
Well WTF... I know 100% for a fact I saw this somewhere, that's why I didn't buy one............. can you think of what the article I read might have been referencing? It might have even been a huge thread on HN how developers/programmers were waiting a year+ to buy it until certain things were supported.
There were two common misunderstandings which were widely promulgated people whose confidence exceeded their actual knowledge:
1. The developer preview systems didn't support it, but that was because they used the older A12X chip. Lots of people spread that on social media as this not working on ARM at all.
2. Docker for Mac did not have ARM support at launch. Docker does have full ARM support so this was just a function of needing time to develop the desktop app (and not having access to the M1 hardware much ahead of anyone else) but some people panicked and portrayed this as something which would require a huge amount of work. There's a preview release out now: https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/apple-m1/
I think maybe you saw a bunch of FUD? I’ve seen a ton on here.
There was also a lot of speculation that Apple would quash booting other OSes, and maybe that got into the mix?
FWIW I’m a lifelong Apple user and even if I had the budget I’d hold off a year on ARM Macs, because I’ve learned to avoid first revision models in general.
