linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm/adp

Apple Silicon Touch Bar display controller (ADP)

Drives the small secondary OLED strip — the Touch Bar — on Apple Silicon MacBook Pros, using the pre-DCP "Apple Display Pipe" block found on M1-class chips. It is the Linux-on-Mac path to lighting up that touchbar panel on machines Apple sold from 2020 until the line was retired in late 2023.

keep-annotate conf=0.87 last_sold=2023 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=graphics-display
87%

recommendation

Worth keeping but document its niche because it only matters to owners of M1-era MacBook Pros with a Touch Bar running Linux on Apple Silicon. Apple discontinued Touch Bar Macs in October 2023, so the hardware base will not grow, but the driver is brand new (first appeared in Linux 6.15) and received active fixes in 2025, so it is healthy upstream and serves a real, if shrinking, audience.

repository signals

4 files
891 source lines
10 commits, 5y
+941 / −28 lines added / removed, 5y
7 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 10 total · active in 5/61 months
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sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Initial upstream submission says the driver is for Apple Display Pipe hardware on M-series chips used to drive the touchbar display.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    The driver received targeted functional fixes in 2025, indicating active upstream maintenance rather than abandonment.

  3. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_DRM_ADP first appears in Linux 6.15 and matches Apple pre-DCP display-pipe platform/of IDs, confirming it is a very new, narrowly scoped driver.

  4. support.apple.com

    Apple's MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) technical specs list a Touch Bar, tying supported Apple silicon hardware to this feature.

  5. en.wikipedia.org

    The Touch Bar MacBook Pro line is described as discontinued in October 2023, so this hardware is not still sold new in 2025.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Kernel evidence came from local source inspection and `git log` via shell; the two lore URLs were obtained from commit Link tags in that shell output. LKDDb and Apple/Wikipedia pages were obtained via web search. ADP is a fresh 2025 upstream driver with multiple substantive fixes in 2025, so removal/deprecation is not justified. Hardware is niche and effectively legacy because Touch Bar Macs were discontinued by 2023, but existing deployed systems remain; annotate as niche legacy support rather than remove.