Plate spinning is one of the most thrilling juggling acts. Tension builds as the performer starts loading plates onto poles, and reaches a sustained peak once some slow down and break into a wobble, and the spinner has to dart from one to another to spin them up again before they crash to the ground. The last week or so I have been spinning the plates that Apple has so kindly loaded for me.
Plates 1-3
Two date back six months to the update that took macOS Tahoe to version 26.4, with its encrypted login keychains and changed architecture of the boot volume group, adding the pkg folder. A third, changes to the format of Apple Intelligence Reports, was also introduced in 26.4, although it has been buried in an appendix to the documentation for the PCC Virtual Research Environment, and now makes it necessary to activate that environment before you can read much of the contents of an AIR.
The encryption of login keychains might have been well-motivated given the extensive attacks by stealer malware, but it can have dire consequences for the unsuspecting user. In the absence of any warning or documentation, it will only be discovered when you have already irrevocably lost access to that keychain because of this callous change. Imagine your shiny new Apple silicon Mac returning from repair and discovering you’re unable to access the backup of its previous login keychain. This is a prime example of why good documentation isn’t just essential for users. Had anyone taken the trouble to detail the practical effects of this change they would have realised just how much is broken by that encryption.
In the annual cycle, it’s usually the x.4 release that brings the most substantial changes, some of them preparing the way for the next major version to debut in beta the following June. Sonoma 14.4 brought a host of new kernel extensions and private frameworks with cryptic names, and Monterey 12.4 brought the release version of Universal Control. At this stage in the cycle, its documentation is usually little more than the perfunctory “includes enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac,” as engineers move on to more pressing work on the next version of macOS.
Plates 4, 5
Two spinning plates had come in macOS Golden Gate 27.0 earlier this month, in a strange glitch in LogUI’s Search menu, and changes in the log for Trim. I’m confident that there are still more to surface, and am currently struggling with some odd changes apparent in the Finder, and cursor handling in text views. At its worst the latter can result in a clash between editing at the cursor and the Writing Tools floating icon, which can in turn end in an app crash.
Plates 6, 7
The final pair of plates were spun up in the last few days, in XProtect and XProtect Remediator 163.
I have come to dread the regular weekly updates to XProtect, because I know that many will break on some versions of macOS. The latest to version 5362 is a good example. With a datestamp of 22:57:16 GMT on 25 September, when I checked in macOS 27.0 at 05:30 GMT the following day, it hadn’t been automatically installed yet. Fortunately the xprotect command functioned correctly, but no update was provided for older versions of macOS via softwareupdate, and still hasn’t been when I drafted this article later that day.
It wasn’t long before I received the first email reporting that the xprotect command didn’t work in macOS 15.8, so those running at least some other supported versions of macOS were unable to update. As far as I can tell, it may be at least 24 hours after the update’s release that those running 15.8 or earlier will be able to enjoy the enhanced protection my Mac is already enjoying.
Last week has also been the period each month that I write my six-page section for MacFormat and MacLife magazines, which inevitably coincides with the time that most send me their email questions. So if you’ll excuse me, please, because I can see another of those plates breaking into a terminal wobble. I’ll be back once I have spun it up again, tomorrow morning. I hope by that time your Mac will be using the new version of XProtect.
