My computer is suddenly slow, and I need help with the etrecheck report!

Launch Daemons:

[Loaded] net.protected.macos.AVHelper.plist (SS Protect Limited - installed 2023-10-18)

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/net.protected.macos.AVHelper

You have some sort of anti-virus installed. My guess is it came with your Proton VPN software. VPN software does not provide any security except when connecting to an employer's VPN server to access systems on the employer's network. Usually when this is needed, you will need to use the proprietary VPN software for the employer's Firewall/VPN server anyway. So there is no need to have any VPN software installed. Uninstall the Proton VPN software by following the developer's instructions and hope it also removes that AV Launch Daemon as well.

There were two Kernel Panics listed as well:

2024-06-26 20:42:27 Kernel Panic (2 times)

Details:

panic(cpu 1 caller 0xfffffff01dbcf1bc): x86 global reset detected

Panicked task 0xffffffde1a0e5fd0: 0 pages, 209 threads: pid 0: kernel_

task

I don't know if this is from a hardware issue or is caused by a software issue such as that AV software. I've seen a few other Kernel Panics like this on this forum once in a while, but never confirmed a cause.

The EtreCheck report also listed four "ProxiedDevice-Bridge" crashes which are associated with the T2 security chip. Again, it is hard to say if this is due to a hardware issue with the Logic Board, or a software issue with that AV software. I have found the Logic Boards of these 2018-2020 Intel Macs with the T2 security chip to have a higher rate of failure than older models. You can try a DFU firmware Revive to see if that makes any difference as it resets the T2 security chip & system firmware. Make sure your backup is current since if this "Revive" process fails to complete it will likely leave you unable to access any data on the internal SSD.

You can also try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected. Unfortunately the diagnostics rarely detect problems even when problems have been confirmed to exist through other means.

Make sure to disconnect all external devices from the laptop in case one of them is causing a problem. I know the Wacom tablets & drivers have been known to be a problem at times (usually more so on the M-series Macs).

The only other things to try would be to create a new APFS volume and install macOS onto that new APFS volume to see how the laptop behaves while booted to that clean OS. It is important not to restore from a backup, not to install any third party apps, and not to sign into your AppleID or iCloud. You want to test the new OS just as it ships from Apple.....if you have issues in this very specific configuration, then most likely you have a hardware issue with the laptop. Before deleting the new APFS volume, make sure to boot into the original OS and reselect the original OS as the default Startup Disk since this will minimize issues after deleting the new OS.