Which version of macOS introduced /System/Applications?

Today I discovered quite by accident that several applications are now stored in /System/Applications/. I realized this when I was trying to find the bundle ID of a built-in application, and even though it appeared in the Applications folder it was missing entirely from /Applications! I suspect this change might have come when I recently upgraded to macOS Catalina, but perhaps it was even earlier than that.

Which version of macOS introduced the /System/Applications directory? And where is this documented?

Solution 1:

This is part of a larger macOS Catalina feature wherein system files/apps are located on a read-only filesystem and user data is located on a read/write filesystem. This is to further protect the operating system against malicious or inadvertent damage (i.e. to prevent security problems and OOPS! moments).

The read-only and read/write filesystems are stitched together to present as one unified filesystem through some underlying filesystem and logical volume "magic".

Sources:

• https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210650

• https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/10/macos-10-15-catalina-the-ars-technica-review/11/#h1