System extension

System extensions are Apple's supported method of adding low-level functionality to the of macOS.
==History==
Apple introduced system extensions in macOS Catalina (10.15) in 2019 as a more secure alternative to kernel extensions (kexts), which had been used in earlier versions of Mac OS X.Apple deprecating macOS kernel extensions (KEXTs) is a great win for security, by Catalin Cimpanu, ZDNet. 2020-02-07. Kexts, now referred to as "legacy system extensions, were deemed a security risk and deprecated by Apple. Starting in macOS 10.15.4, the continued use of kernel extensions would trigger a warning to the user. Support for kexts would start being phased out in macOS Big Sur except for Apple-approved enterprise developers.Enterprise management of legacy system extensions in macOS Big Sur, Apple Support. 2020-12-08. Any legacy kexts still installed would require user approval to be loaded upon every startup.Kernel extensions in macOS, Apple Support. 2020-12-14.
Both the modern system extensions as well as the legacy kexts can be managed through the Extensions pane of System Preferences.
==References==
==External links==
*About system extensions and macOS at Apple Support (2020-11-20)
**Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac (2017-08-17)
**System Extensions at Apple Developer
***System Extensions and DriverKit
Category:macOS
Category:Terms
Category:2019 introductions