Multiple Applications Folders?

[maestrosteve]

I have my regular Applications folder with 140 apps, located in the place it always was. Tonight I found another Applications folder within the System Folder, and it had the original 40 Apple apps (and Utilities Folder) that come with MacOS Ventura. Those same apps are in my other folder included within the 140. Bottom line, I have 2 versions of apps like Mail, Calendar, etc... I've been a Mac user since the 80s, never saw this kind of thing. Does anyone else have an Applications folder in their System folder? With duplicated Apps?

It's not like I played around moving any files. I just upgraded to a new Mac that came with Ventura, that's how it was.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Its normal. Don't mess with it!

Since Apple moved to the separate sealed System Volume and Data volumes, everything that you added to the computer since it left the factory is in the Data volume. This includes all third party apps, all settings, data etc. The signed sealed System Volume cannot be modified in any way. It is checked every build and if it does not pass the machine won't boot.

The Apple apps were supplied with the machine so are in the System Volume. The Third party apps are in the -Data volume.

Apple does clever things to combine the System and Data volumes and present the combination to us as a single volume, like in the days before Catalina. So in Finder we still only see "Applications", "Library", "System", and "Users" just as we always used to, but the actual files are divided between System and Data volumes.

The Apple apps are not duplicated but will appear in both /System/Applications and /Applications.

 

[maestrosteve]

Mike, I'm pretty sure now that I did some investigating on my main SSD, that you are 100% correct.
I see 2 Mail apps, one in each folder, each being 15.1 MB, neither is an alias, but when I do a GET INFO on the one in my Applications Folder, it says it's location is Macintosh HD/System/Applications folder, where any other app in that same folder says the location is Macintosh HD/Applications folder.

I couldn't find this info anywhere else. Thanks for your response.