Apple Has Included Bitcoin Whitepaper in Each Model of macOS Since 2018
In each copy of macOS that has shipped since 2018, Apple has included the unique Bitcoin whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto, and no-one appears to know why.
The baffling discovery (or rediscovery – see under) was lately made by developer and waxy.org author Andy Baio, who stumbled upon the PDF doc whereas making an attempt to repair an issue together with his printer.
Anybody with a Mac working macOS Mojave or later can see the PDF for themselves by typing the next command into Terminal:
open /System/Library/Picture Seize/Units/VirtualScanner.app/Contents/Assets/simpledoc.pdf
Should you’re working macOS 10.14 or later, the 184 KB Bitcoin PDF ought to instantly open in Preview.
The doc will also be situated through Finder: Navigate to Macintosh HD -> System -> Library -> Picture Seize -> Units, then open the Contents -> Assets folder. The whitepaper titled “simpledoc.pdf” ought to be in there.
Baio discovered that within the macOS Picture Seize utility, the Bitcoin whitepaper is used as a pattern doc for a tool known as “Digital Scanner II,” which can or might not energy Apple’s Import from iPhone characteristic, and is both hidden or not put in for everybody by default.
Baio later found that he wasn’t the primary individual to search out the Bitcoin doc or “Digital Scanner II.” An Apple Group submit from 2021 queries its existence in macOS, along with a photograph taken of an indication at San Francisco Bay’s Treasure Island, after designer Joshua Dickens unearthed them in 2020.
It isn’t recognized why Apple would select as a pattern doc Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper. There was widespread hypothesis in regards to the identification of the presumed pseudonymous Bitcoin developer, which is just doubtless so as to add to the intrigue. What “Digital Scanner II” refers to additionally stays unclear.
In accordance with a supply who spoke to Baio, somebody filed the Bitcoin paper with Apple as a problem practically a 12 months in the past, and assigned it to the identical engineer who put the PDF there within the first place, however that individual hasn’t taken motion or commented on the problem since.
The thriller continues.