APFS allows built-in full disk encryption and file encryption. If you are a cross-platform user, to enable your APFS formatted drive to read and write on Windows, you should use the APFS for Windows software, like Paragon APFS for Windows and MacDrive APFS.ĪPFS has added several new features and improved functionalities to bring higher performance and faster data transfer.īring higher encryption. The competitor of Apple, Microsoft, has no right to allow users to mount, read, or write APFS drives in Windows 10/8/7. Can Windows computers read APFS?ĪPFS is developed by and proprietary for Apple. So, APFS is not the best choice for HDDs, but the previous file system, HFS+, is better for HDDs.
Most importantly, as the data volume increases on APFS HDDs, its performance plummets. Some APFS features even won't work with HDDs. Therefore, APFS shows higher and more stable performance on SSDs and Flash storage when compared to on other disks, like HDDs.
Apple File System is designed and optimized for SSDs and Flash storage devices. Instead, formatting the external drive to exFAT, which has higher OS compatibility. Use the external hard drive on a Linux computer.Use the external disk on Windows computers.
Though APFS is the default file system for Mac internal hard drives, it also can be used on external hard drives.īut notably, if you prepare to use the external hard drives under these scenarios, you shouldn't format it to APFS. For Apple Partition Map (APM), it is used on old PowerPC Mac devices. While Master Boot Record (MBR) is only compatible with Windows computers. GUID Partition Map can be used on Intel-based Macs, Apple M1 Macs, and even some latest Windows computers. Usually, only GUID Partition Map (APM) is available for APFS format. APFS Partition scheme: use Apple Partition, GUID, or MBR More specifically, old Mac machines with macOS 10.12 Sierra, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, or earlier releases cannot support APFS.
You may have a question like this "Can older Macs read APFS?" Mac OS before macOS 10.13 High Sierra cannot read or write APFS formatted drives. All Mac devices with SSDs before 2016 are automatically converted to APFS when updating OS. But the official use of APFS was since macOS 10.13 High Sierra. When did Apple switch to APFS?Īpple experimental supports for APFS in macOS 10.12.4 Sierra. And the feature "encrypted" means that encryption is available for the volume.įeaturing snapshots, encryption, space sharing, clones, crash protection, etc., APFS brings the data storage and transfer performance to a new level. The feature "case-sensitive" means the file and folder names will differentiate the upper and lower cases. There are four types of APFS in Disk Utility, including APFS, APFS (Encrypted), APFS (Case-sensitive), APFS (Case-sensitive, encrypted). It has replaced Mac OS Extended to be the default file system for Mac startup disk from macOS High Sierra (10.13) in 2017.
Source: From What is APFS?ĪPFS (Apple File System), like other file systems, is a process that controls how is data stored and retrieved on a storage device, like hard drives. Mac OS Extended: Is APFS better than macOS Journaled Here we've studied the features and defects of APFS and guide you when you should use APFS format. Step 2: Launchpad → Other → Disk Utility, and click the Disk Utility.Apple File System (APFS) is a self-designed file system of Apple Inc for Mac computers, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad. Click here when external hard drive doesn't mount on Mac.
Step 1: Connect the external hard drive with your Mac, and the computer will mount your external hard drive. Part 1: Two methods to format external hard drive on Mac Method I: Format an external hard drive through "Disk Utility" (newbie friendly)
Then how to format a external hard drive on Mac? Here are two methods for those people who urgently need to erase a external hard drive. When there are bad sectors which don't store the data of bootstrap procedure, but of some important private files, people expect for formatting and backing up to make these files accessible again when people's hard disks can no longer write in further, they expect for erasing disk to pave way for new items to write when there are file system errors in people's hard disks resulting from frequent hot swapping, they expect for formatting to give rebirth to these dying disks and make them in use again. Of course, there are different occasions where people want to get their external hard drives erased. "Format", a word which is connected with "all data clear" and which is different from what it is called so on Windows, has another name on Mac, "erase".