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It’s worth noting that if you use iMessage for MacOS, all of your messages are stored unencrypted, in plain text, on your computer HD.

I'd guess most macos systems (laptops) have encrypted hard drives.

Yes, however if you use a company computer, those are typically logged by monitoring software and archived elsewhere.

That protects you in the case of physical theft but not from any other program you run exfiltrating the data.