And why should they? I don't know where my browser cache is either. Or my rows in my sqlite database. Or the system clock configuration. Actually I do know: They're stored on the hard drive.

Files aren't physical.

Diff two iPhoto libraries to check if they contain the duplicate photos

Create a new library,

import the images from both libraries (https://support.apple.com/en-us/119920)

View > Utilities > Duplicates

or use jdupes or czkawka on both directories.

Great tip, but also: exactly.

On the phone itself?

On the filesystem-enabled device called Mac commonly used for semi-pro operations like file management and backup.

> And why should they? I don't know where my browser cache is either.

This makes it a pain where you want to have a custom configuration. Like moving the cache to a ramdisk. My NVME disk is plenty fast, but rarely I want my browser cache to persist across a reboot. It's a pain to move the cache to /tmp/firefox-cache as an example (/tmp is a ramdisk on my laptop). Also a pain to backup profiles.

i know where mine is, so i can clear it myself if i care.

So which is it? Is Apple not responsible for ditching the filesystem, or is it a good thing that Apple has ditched the filesystem? You can't have it both ways.