As we close out the [1]Linux 6.15 merge window this weekend culminating with the Linux 6.15-rc1 release, the input driver updates were merged that include introducing the new Apple Z2 driver.

The "apple_z2" driver was merged for the Linux 6.15 kernel for enabling Apple touchscreens and their Touch Bar components that rely on the Z2 protocol. Z2 is Apple's primarily protocol for the touchscreen on mobile Apple devices and for the Touch Bar with their M-Series Apple Silicon devices (older Intel-based Macs rely on the T1/T2 security co-processor for interfacing with the Touch Bar).

This Apple Z2 driver for the Linux kernel was developed by Asahi Linux developers as part of their Apple Silicon on Linux effort. With Linux 6.15 this apple_z2 driver is added plus the Device Tree additions for the controller.

Outside of the input pull, the Linux 6.15 kernel also adds [2]DRM display driver support for Apple Touch Bars as another upstream improvement for those interested in using Apple devices on Linux.

In addition to adding this Apple Z2 touchscreen/touchbar driver, the input pull for Linux 6.15 adds support for Goodix Berlin-A series touch ICs series devices to the Goodix Berlin (goodix_berlin) driver. This Berlin-A series support was tested with a Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE using this IC for the touchscreen.

Other than that the [3]input pull was a fairly light cycle for Linux 6.15.



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/search/Linux+6.15

[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.15-Likely-Features

[3] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Z_DKFUmQJg8idRsZ@google.com/