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Over the last few years the way that Apple and its official authorised service providers handle your Mac has changed. When you take or send in your Mac for repair or service, they no longer start it up in the way that you would, so don’t need to log into it the way that you do. This is why there are hidden FieldService folders or volumes in /System/Volumes, as they will be used during its service. In the past, technicians often needed access to your user account, and you may have been asked to provide your password; now it’s the exact opposite.
The first and most essential step in preparing your Mac to go away, even for a brief battery replacement, is to ensure that you’ve got at least one full and complete backup on storage that will remain with you. If you use Time Machine, its backups should do fine, but you should check that they don’t exclude folders or volumes that you can’t readily restore. Open Time Machine settings and click on the Options… button to ensure that no significant data are excluded from your Mac’s final backup.
Some repairs will inevitably lead to all your documents and files being wiped. Any that requires the main logic board to be replaced is almost certain to do that, but so can other procedures that you wouldn’t expect to be as radical in effect. Technicians generally work on the assumption that you have already taken care of your own files, so if they do need to erase or replace internal storage, don’t be caught out and lose all your data.
Once you’ve backed your Mac up, if FileVault isn’t enabled, turn it on, if your Mac will cope with that. Intel Macs with a T2 chip and Apple silicon Macs don’t encrypt the contents of their internal storage when you do that, as the Data volume is always fully encrypted. All they do is use your password to protect the encryption key that’s already being used to encrypt your data. That’s more than sufficient to prevent anyone who doesn’t know your password from gaining access to anything on your Mac’s Data volume. Although it’s most unlikely that any technician might try to abuse that, FileVault ensures they can’t.
For Intel Macs without a T2 chip, enabling FileVault does require the entire contents of the Data volume to be encrypted, which can take many hours or even days. If you have sufficient advance notice, it’s still worth considering.
If your Mac has a T2 or Apple silicon chip and is going to have its internal storage, or its main logic board, replaced, then you can safely assume that you’ll be restoring it from your backup when that Mac has been repaired. For an extra touch of security, immediately before parting with it you can use the Erase All Content and Settings (EACAS) feature in System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset. That will destroy the encryption keys to its Data volume and ensure that no one will ever be able to access its contents.
There are a couple of things that you need to do to help the technician:
If you’re sending your Mac in, you’ll probably receive detailed instructions as how to prepare and package it ready. If you’re taking it in, then technicians normally appreciate it if you bring its power cable. Once it’s ready and shut down, give it a quick clean. That’s important if it’s being repaired under AppleCare+, when signs of neglect or abuse might count against you. Macs that have been used in smoky areas usually accumulate tar deposits that should be carefully removed from around their ports. In more serious cases a deep clean may be needed: a technician told me of an iMac that had been the perch for its owner’s parrot, and had become heavily soiled by the bird’s droppings.
When you’re taking your Mac in, remember to take evidence of its purchase in case that’s needed, and a written record of your user name and password, in case you’re asked to start it up. There’s nothing worse than struggling to remember them when under pressure.
These apply to Macs to be serviced or repaired by Apple technicians, or those of Apple Authorised Service Providers. If your Mac is being maintained by an independent repair shop, then they may require different, so ask them what they need you to do.
As the threat landscape and strategies change, different parts of macOS security have been more actively developed. When Java and Flash vulnerabilities were dominant, XProtect’s metadata became vital for blocking older unpatched versions. Then in 2020, Apple grew XProtect’s Yara signatures to detect more malicious software, in 27 updates released that year. That campaign had finished by 2023, when it was only updated once each month, and all eyes were on the youthful XProtect Remediator maturing rapidly in its 18 updates. This article outlines what changed in macOS security protection during 2024, and how Apple has shifted emphasis back to XProtect, together with the importance of CDHashes and notarization.
This has definitely been the year of XProtect, which performs on-demand checks of code that’s about to be launched, using a set of Yara rules to detect known malware. Our Macs started 2024 with version 2177, and after a record total of 29 updates for all macOS and a sudden change in version numbering, by the year’s end that has reached 5284. Even more impressive is the growth of XProtect’s Yara detection rules: at the start of 2024 there were about 195 rules taking 167 KB of text; as we pass into 2025, there are now about 328 rules in 921 KB of text. That’s 170% of the number of rules, and over five times the size.
macOS Sequoia has also brought the most substantial change to XProtect itself, in the introduction of a new medium for delivery of updates to its data, suggesting that XProtect is being forked. When macOS 15.0 was first released, XProtect could receive updates via either the old mechanism of Software Update, or through a new connection to iCloud using CloudKit. After a transition period, updates switched to iCloud only with effect from macOS 15.2.
Apple released two test updates for Sequoia only during September, one of which brought a huge increase in Yara rules in a file of 1.2 MB in size. This suggests that Sequoia’s XProtect is likely to see more frequent and larger updates now that this new mechanism has been tried and tested. How that will run alongside updates for older macOS has yet to be demonstrated, and none of this has been documented by Apple.
This runs daily or more frequent background scans looking for the presence of malicious software and remediating it whenever it can. Although most of its scans are brief, those for Adload can now take several seconds or longer. Our Macs started the year with version 122 containing 22 scanning modules. Since then there have been 18 updates, bringing new modules for Bundlore (also the subject of a campaign in XProtect), and the newer Crapyrator and Dolittle (covered by extensive rules in XProtect), while RedPine has been dropped. We end the year with version 149.
For much of the year updates have been released every two weeks, but have reduced to one update each month since the summer. It’s thought that XProtect Remediator also uses XProtect’s Yara rules for detection purposes, so it should have benefitted from all those updates as well.
The most recent of the XProtect trio, this watches for code that breaks its Bastion rules of behaviour by accessing files in specific sensitive locations, and similar. Apple states in its Platform Security Guide that this isn’t used to block apps or for local detection: “In addition, XProtect contains an advanced engine to detect unknown malware based on behavioral analysis. Information about malware detected by this engine, including what software was ultimately responsible for downloading it, is used to improve XProtect signatures and macOS security.”
Its Bastion rules have grown from 7 to 12, adding watched locations in ~/Library and /Users/Shared and more. Apple doesn’t provide any information as to how useful this intelligence is proving.
As all those using macOS Sequoia will have discovered by now, it brings a major change to way that Gatekeeper’s checks for notarization can be bypassed. In recent versions of macOS, this has been simple to accomplish using the Finder’s Open command, so simple that malware developers commonly coach the user through this to ensure their unsigned code is run without the defences of macOS. The new procedure requires permission to be granted explicitly in Privacy & Security settings.
This has proved controversial, with some who distribute code that isn’t notarized complaining that it’s getting in the way of users running perfectly benign software. However, it’s an important part of the transition to reliance on CDHashes known to Apple. It has already posed a problem to those distributing malicious code, for which no simple workaround has yet emerged. This has also led to a few legitimate apps being blocked, typically when they have been updated in place without fully updating their CDHashes and notarization ticket.
The old macOS Malware Removal Tool MRT has been superseded in Catalina and later by a scanner module in XProtect Remediator. MRT was last updated nearly three years ago, with version 1.93 from 29 April 2022 being the last. It hasn’t been entirely forgotten, though, and may still be installed on the latest Apple silicon Macs.
Fuller accounts of changes in the threat landscape are given by independent security researchers. Moonlock’s was published earlier this month, and I’d expect to see reviews from Patrick Wardle at the Objective-See Foundation and others in the coming days.
The year has seen continuing increase in the number and variety of malicious products for macOS. It’s surprising how many old names like Adload and Bundlore are apparently still thriving, and the emphasis remains on stealers. Recent directed attacks have demonstrated increasing ingenuity and technical skills, and at least one managed to sneak its way through screening by Apple and became notarized, although that has since been revoked.
As ever, threats are most immediate for those who engage in high-risk activities, including downloading cracked commercial products, and dealing in cryptocurrency.
Given that there’s no sign yet that Apple has driven away those who develop and deploy malware, 2025 isn’t likely to be any easier. Most malware has yet to respond to the change brought in bypassing notarization requirements. While there are bound to be more attempts to get malware notarized by Apple, the chances of a notarized app being malicious are likely to remain as close to zero as possible. Greatest risks will continue for those who run unnotarized code from uncontrolled sources.
Apple has put a lot of effort into the changes it has made in XProtect, and will expect to see results in the coming months.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the city of Venice grew in importance as a centre of art, with the Venice Biennale increasingly encouraging contemporary styles. That drew a succession of Post-Impressionists to depict the city and its famous canals.
Henri-Edmond Cross’s watercolour sketch of Venice – The Giudecca from 1903 is similar in approach to those painted by Paul Signac before he viewed Paul Cézanne’s late watercolours in 1908.
Cross’s Regatta in Venice from 1903-04 is a finished Pointillist painting in oils, bearing a strong similarity to those painted at this time by Paul Signac. In the middle distance there appears to be a race taking place.
Paul Signac’s fascination with Venice had been inspired by the writings of John Ruskin, in particular The Stones of Venice. In the course of the early years of the twentieth century, he turned his large collection of studies made in front of the motif into a succession of major Neo-Impressionist oil paintings. Among the first, which he completed in 1904, was this view of the Giudecca Anchorage showing the church of Santa Maria della Salute. This set the compositional approach for many of his views of ports, with colourful vessels in the foreground, and lofty buildings dissolving in the distance.
Another example from 1904 is Signac’s painting of The Lagoon. Yellow Sail with its rhythmic reflections.
Signac’s The Green Sail (1904) features the church of San Giorgio in the distance.
Meanwhile, John Singer Sargent found more unusual views of activities and parts of the city not normally seen by the visitor. This watercolour from 1904 shows Unloading Boats in Venice in the city’s port.
Basin of San Marco, Venice, completed by Signac in 1905, is one of the largest of his paintings of ports. This shows, at the left, San Giorgio Maggiore, in the centre Santa Maria della Salute, and to the right the Doges’ Palace and the Campanile of Piazza San Marco. In the foreground is a flotilla of bragozzi with their colourful sails. Signac’s preparations for this had been careful if not painstaking. They led from his watercolour sketches to a squared drawing with formal geometry and a planned colour scheme, which he then enlarged onto the canvas. He was clearly pleased with the result, and this work was featured in many of his subsequent major exhibitions.
My favourite among Signac’s views of Venice is his Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice (1905). Its foreground is dominated by a shimmering and jumbled parade of gondolas, and melting into the distance is the towering silhouette of Santa Maria della Salute.
Sargent’s bravura watercolour sketch Grand Canal, Venice (1907) gives an idea as to his approach and style. It’s composed of a sparse collection of brushstrokes of watercolour which assemble into a detailed view. He sees Venice from the level of a gondola, the bows of which are also shown. His palette for these sketches is generally centred on earth colours for the buildings, with blue for the sky, water, and usually the shadows too.
In 1908, Ivan Trush visited northern Italy, where he painted this famous view of Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore. One of the smaller islands there, it has been painted extensively, perhaps most famously in Claude Monet’s late series. The church and its high campanile are prominent landmarks whose detail Trush has captured in this impressive oil sketch.
Signac painted Venice. Customs House in 1908, following a return visit to the city. This reverses his previous compositions by placing the Customs House in the mid-ground, with masts and sails behind. This loses the depth and grandeur of those earlier works.
Martín Rico maintained his summer visits to Venice right up to the year of his death, when he painted this unusual view Near the Grand Canal, Venice (1908). A person is in the water beside the gondola, and the boatman is assisting them with a boathook while the other occupants seem quite detached from what is going on.
Sargent’s watercolours were by no means dependent on the sophistication of his technique: Rio dei Mendicanti, Venice from about 1909 works its magic almost entirely from a combination of wet on dry and wet on wet. There isn’t even much in the way of a graphite drawing under its thin washes.
Although the rise of Modernism brought fewer painters to the canals of Venice, they increasingly flocked to the Venice Biennale during the twentieth century, and Venice remains a focus of art.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the city of Venice had become established as an essential visit for every aspiring landscape artist. It not only attracted those painting traditional views (vedute) of its canals, but was drawing those in the avant-garde. This was encouraged by the start of the city’s biennial art exhibition, the Venice Biennale, the first of which opened on 30 April 1895.
The American Post-Impressionist Maurice Brazil Prendergast had a particular affection for the city, which he visited in 1898. The Canal, Venice from 1898-99 shows Riva di San Severo, and makes good comparison with Sargent’s looser watercolours of the canals, such as his Scuola di San Rocco from about 1903, shown later in this article.
Henri-Edmond Cross’s A Canal in Venice is also dated from 1899, and is an unusual Pointillist oil sketch of gondolas in one of the city’s smaller canals. Cross visited the city at this time, and again in 1903 and 1908.
The young Roger Fry, who was to become an influential critic and promoter of Post-Impressionism, went to Venice in 1899 to learn to paint. His early works, including this view of Venice, appear realist with Impressionist tendencies.
Martín Rico was still visiting Venice each summer. Some of his later paintings of the city are more populous and bustling, such as his San Lorenzo River with the Campanile of San Giorgio dei Greci, Venice from about 1900.
In about 1902, Rico painted this more direct view of the church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, with a small fleet of gondolas.
The British artist Walter Sickert visited Venice on several occasions between 1894 and 1904. His paintings make interesting comparison with those of John Singer Sargent, who was painting the city mostly in watercolour at the time. Sickert’s oil sketch of Venice, la Salute, thought to have been completed in about 1901, uses muted colours. He has cropped this unusually, showing only a portion of the famous domed church of Santa Maria della Salute. The artist also stressed how he had painted this in “full colour”.
John Singer Sargent visited Venice repeatedly from about 1874, even before he became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and continued to do so after he moved his studio to London in 1886. His watercolour of Rio dell Angelo from 1902 is typically painterly and rich in chroma.
Sargent’s Scuola di San Rocco from about 1903 is one of his best-known watercolours, and another bravura painting.
In 1903, Mykhaylo Berkos visited the city, where he painted this watercolour view of boats On a Canal Near Venice (1903). Although few examples appear to have survived, he was an accomplished and prolific painter in watercolours as well as oils.
Frits Thaulow was an accomplished print-maker, and I think that this version of the Marble Steps (1903) in Venice is an aquatint. It shows the different approach he used to represent the broken water surface and its reflections.
In the early twentieth century, Venice was to become a focus of attention for the more avant-garde, notably Post-Impressionists with Pointillist techniques.
以前一直想拥有一款 Apple Watch，但因为种种原因总是错过，或者说没想好自己到底需不需要这一块表。Apple Watch S5 的处理器只是换了马甲，和 S4 的一样。然后 S6 的时候没咋关注，当时更喜欢 Garmin 这种 Hardcore 一点的表，等到 S7 的时候有传闻说外观会有大的改变，和 iPhone 12 一样是直角平整边框，结果也没有。直到今年的 Apple Watch S8 还是没有大的改变，估计这下外观固定了，估计好多年不会变，让我遗憾的是用的处理器自从 Apple Watch S6 以来就没有更换过，可能明年就有大幅度升级了吧，也罢，不等了，入手。
今年还有 Apple Watch SE2 和 Apple Watch Ultra，前者是入门款，没有 Always On Display，用的元件都是库存老款，直接 pass。后者主打极限户外，但是说实话，这售价比 Garmin 的一些户外表还便宜，续航啥的也差一截，为了穿搭好看我还是选择了 Apple Watch S8。不锈钢款性价比太低，加一点钱可以上 Apple Watch Ultra，就选择铝金属款。
这一代尺寸和上一代 S7 一模一样，我选择了 45mm 的表盘尺寸，差不多手腕的宽度，适合我。然后就是选择表带，
其中，铝金属版本的编制单圈表带较其他款要贵 ¥400。我选择了 Nike 回环式运动表带，就是以前的 Nike 特别版。
选择了这个「雪峰白配黑色」
睡眠监测
大致还是比较准确的，以前有很多第三方软件可以用，但是今年的 watchOS 9 自带的「睡眠」很不错。睡眠数据在 iPhone 的「健康」中查看。
可以知道自己睡眠其实很短啦……提醒自己早睡，起床的手腕震动功能很不错，没有闹铃那么夺命。
站立提醒
这是我最需要的核心功能之一，在每个钟头的五十分时候会提醒站立一分钟
体能训练
里面有几十种运动模式，对于我记录拉伸、核心训练非常有用，不用自己盲算消耗了多少卡路里
计时器（倒计时）
配合体能训练就不用 iPhone 计时了
洗手提示
时常保持卫生，要洗足 20 秒哦
歌曲切换
在开车，骑车时候尤其有帮助，可以滚动侧边表冠来调节音量大小。一键切歌，比在方向盘，中控台切歌方便许多
消息提示
有时候 iPhone 揣在兜里不是那么方便拿出来看，这个就很方便了。但是消息过多也是种负担，需要自己斟酌
指南针
把这个功能放在表盘上，就能随时知道朝向的方向，我就是随时想知道方位
心率监测
耐力运动员很有必要知道自己的静息心率水平，时常测一下
呼叫 iPhone
找不到 iPhone 的时候按住「呼叫 iPhone」按钮，iPhone 的闪光灯还会闪烁
基本上只要不是出席穿正装的场合，Apple Watch 换一下表带都能佩戴，不同的表带搭配不同的着装，兼容性真的太好了，我目前用着三款表带。
这个虽然叫做 Nike 回环式运动表带，但其实运动时候佩戴并不如硅胶表带适合，原因无他，不好清理，清水冲洗后很难干。但是可调节尺寸佩戴还是很舒服的。
个人觉得单圈编制表带是最适合穿搭的，但是舒适度会差一点，因为不能调节尺寸，太紧勒着难受，太松又不贴合。不适合运动时候佩戴。
这一款 Nike 运动表带是我最喜欢在运动时候戴的，硅胶材质，出了汗水直接冲洗就可以了，很省心。
值得一提的是，国行 Apple Watch 没有「对讲机」功能。因为国行 iPhone 阉割了 FaceTime Audio，即 Facetime 的语音通话功能。由于 FaceTime Audio 属于 VoIP 通信，通俗来讲就是网络电话，内地还未开放对民营企业 VoIP 的政策。
作为在可穿戴智能设备，Apple Watch 系列在中高端市场占据绝对优势，和其生态的强大密不可分，从辅助健康的角度来说他做的已经很好了，如果你买了表不怎么运动也无关紧要，谁说买了卡西欧就一定要运动是不，就是期待未来 Apple 能给这个真正的「掌上」设备带来更多有想象力的功能。
表盘设置为「加州」，顶部子表盘选择，字母图案，关闭底部子表盘。然后在 iPhone - 时间-手表 - Monogram（字母组合），改成 Rolex 就可以获得一款全新劳力士啦（
同理，也可以每天获得一款新的 Patek Philippe 或者你喜欢的表啦～
注：题图来自 shuaisoserious 洗冷水澡哈哈。
前阵子换了个新的燃气热水器，热水器这东西虽然不怎么用的坏，但是有八年强制报废的规定。还是换一下的好，秉持一贯选择 TOP 品牌的择物理念，这方面行业领先的是日本的能率（lǜ）和林内，在这两个品牌之间选择。A.O 史密斯是做电热水器出名，早期燃气热水器是能率代工的，而且用的还是不锈钢水箱，肯定是铜水箱好，这里就 pass 了。
预算在 2500-3500 之间，下面列出的价格为当时电商价格，价格波动很大，需要自己甄别。
品牌成立是林内早，早期做燃气具，进入燃气热水器市场晚一点。能率是恒温型燃气热水器的发明者，技术走在前列。
能率 Noritz，全日资（国内门店较少）
林内 Rinnai，上海合资公司（合作门店多，国内市场占有率高）
烟道式（已淘汰）
平衡式（直排式）
强排式（安全性好）
下置风机（比上置风机经济性好，寿命也久）
微火苗/微焰燃烧 （夏季洗澡时，水管水温高，调低加热下限 3℃）
零冷水（需要安装回水管，高端机型的配置）
一般来说越重越好，用料足
排气方式
D - 自然排气式
Q - 强制排气式
P - 自然给排气式
G - 强制给排气式
W - 室外型
RUS - 林内编号，上海生产
13 - 升数
QD31 - 型号
林内 JSQ26-D31/RUS-13QD31 澎湃芯动力 ￥2900 （气水双调控温，配置比能率 E4 略低，噪音低一点，多了微火苗技术）
林内 JSQ26-D06W ￥3500 （这款才是真正意义上对标能率 E4 的，特色：低压启动，CO 预警）
能率 JSQ25-F3 主打静音降噪（入门款）定位比 E4 要低，理应要比 E4 便宜，所以超过 ¥2100 就没必要选了，
能率 JSQ25-E4/GQ-13E4AFEX 13L ￥2900左右，燃气热水器的标准线，高端机型守门员
能率 JSQ25-V36 13L ￥3400 （多了微火苗、降噪、语音及 APP远程控制功能）花里胡哨的没啥用，热水器制热快且稳定才重要
新款的能率 JSQ25-EA2 （天猫 ¥2599）就是割韭菜的机器，都新款了用的还是燃气比例阀控温……
还有个能率 SQ25-A10（GQ-13A10AFEX）¥3000+，广东金美达代工，也 pass。
大概率用不到，师傅上门也会备着，但还是列一些品牌吧：
看了很久，经过反复对比，基础款的配置是能率的高一些。选了能率 E4 13L，家里还有一台电热水器，这个小容量的也够用了。而且装在室外，对噪音问题也不敏感。虽然是 2016 年的老款，但是配置依旧可以，水量伺服器的入门机型，虽然没有微焰燃烧。这么多年口碑不错，而且新款机子价格高，换汤不换药，换个噱头收割韭菜。也是京东上销量最好的，挑来挑去还是大众选择最多的那款，大家都帮我选好了🤦♂️
比较了京东和淘宝同款机器，最终在淘宝下单，京东在所谓打折的时候还要贵 ¥600，淘宝店家的渠道也是从京东大订单里出来的，你懂的，「特色」。到货后不要拆，只能由官方具备资质的专业人员来安装，不然没有质保。
打官方电话预约安装，第一次上门免费，辅料另算，我这台安装的时候没有产生费用，师傅挺熟练的，二十分钟不到即完成安装。
售后服务是三年保修，每年 6-9 月上门检查热水器运行状况。
因为把机器移到了室外，排烟效果好了，不用担心有毒气体在室内产生，冬天也不怎么用担心，机器有防冻设计，把水管裹上保暖棉即可。
使用起来确实比以前出热水快挺多，一边洗澡，另一边洗手同时使用，水流波动也很小，不过总体来说并没有给我带来质的飞跃，可能热水器的存在感是比较低的，而且我现在开始洗冷水澡了。
而且即使挑出了花，很多机型也是电商平台特供的，溢价很难避免。只有芯片是进口的，其他都是国产，所以你懂，不像下面的电饭锅可以买到纯原装进口的。
花了很多时间挑选，虽然我又重新洗冷水澡了，但是能让家人用着更舒服，顺带还替邻居节省功课购置了一台，这篇文章也就没有白写吧。
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