How the immutable system of the SSV, the firmlinked Data volume, and cryptexes ‘grafted’ into the directory tree combine to form the boot volume group of Intel and Apple silicon Macs running macOS 15.
SSV
Exactly what is the disk shown in the Finder named Macintosh HD, in Big Sur and later versions of macOS? An exploration of the structure of the modern boot disk.
Security in macOS is designed and applied in multiple layers to remain effective even when one layer is bypassed, and herd protection determines types of attack.
What if you want to boot your Mac using two or more different versions of macOS, with different versions of APFS? Here’s how to avoid problems.
Explanations of how macOS updates work, and their differences between minor updates for Catalina and Sonoma.
For 18 years, cloning a boot disk was popular and effective. It was even used as a way of defragmenting free space in housekeeping. Why doesn’t it work with Apple’s new Macs?
Launching an app for the first time used be simple. Now we have the SSV, launch constraints and app translocation to contend with.
Keybags, wrapping keys, VEKs and KEKs all explained. Did you realise how Recovery Keys are implemented? Or how the SSV protects against read errors?
Simply having a boot volume group with a System snapshot in it won’t get your Mac to start up from that disk, particularly if it’s an Apple silicon model. Some details.
Secure Boot and its 5 stages, the SSV, support for external bootable disks, the SEP, Recovery, and lightweight virtualisation.
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