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APFS considerations
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[Oliver Peters] “It will also be a factor for new machines purchased after macOS HS is released.”
In what sense? Also, I’m pretty sure that non-apple SSD’s won’t format as APFS either. I know it’s true of some SSD’s from OWC or other vendors that have been installed internally.
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~\”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.\”~
~I still need to play Track Tetris sometimes. An old game that you can never win~
~\”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented\”~ -
[Charlie Austin] “In what sense?”
I said “new” machines, not existing or upgraded machines with third-party SSDs. If you buy a new Mac laptop, Mac Pro or iMac with SSD, it will come formatted as APFS whether or not you want it that way. This means you will likely have a mixed environments in most shops and will have to be cognizant of the potential issues.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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There’s yet another issue. I work in one shop with a NAS shared editing set-up. They have one 2013 Mac Pro, four iMacs with Fusion drives, and two older Mac Pro towers with OWC SSDs. So, I cannot bring any of these machines up to High Sierra, because the 2013 Mac Pro will be automatically reformatted as APFS, but none of the others. If we upgrade, then we have a mixed format condition that we have to be mindful of and careful dealing with. For example, making damn sure that anyone working on the 2013 MP doesn’t accidentally format an external drive as APFS. I’m sure we can deal with this going forward, but it’s a consideration we shouldn’t have to deal with.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Charlie Austin] “FWIW, it’s my understanding that spinning drives won’t be formatted to APFS so this won’t make any difference. if you’re exchanging SSD’s then it’s a consideration… “
From what I read users can opt-out of using APFS on spinning drives, but if the default is APFS then I bet most will users will end up using APFS.
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[Oliver Peters] “I’m sure we can deal with this going forward, but it’s a consideration we shouldn’t have to deal with.”
So, in a perfect world, what’s the solution? Keep the old filesystem? Make compromises to the new FS so it can be read by old OS versions? Update old OS’s (how far back?) to read APFS?
Seems like all you need to do is say “don’t format external drives as APFS” right?
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~\”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.\”~
~I still need to play Track Tetris sometimes. An old game that you can never win~
~\”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented\”~ -
Lets hope the clever people who make MacDrive will have an update in time so my Win PCs can read/write this new format.
I’ve never understood why the ability to read and write to multiple drive formats isn’t inside an OS. With Linux Mint on my laptop, I can read lots of formats including HFS+, NTFS, all the various FATs and all the Linux formats plus lots that I don’t ever see. Interestingly HFS+ is the only ‘read only’ formats in Linux and that must be because Apple forces that. NTFS drives are read/ write so clearly Microsoft plays ball. It’s only when you step outside of the cloistered Apple world that you see how much less inclined they are to share and play nicely.
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[Charlie Austin] “So, in a perfect world, what’s the solution?”
1. Give customers with Apple SSDs the option to NOT reformat the drive to APFS, just like they have if their machine had a Fusion drive or a third party SSD.
2. Make sure the Disk Utility does not default to formatting APFS as the first choice.
3. Make sure macOS “HS” under APFS can also read/write/format NTFS – or that compatibility with Tuxera is maintained.
4. Provide a big “compatibility” warning if you are about to format APFS on an external.
5. Add an extension or something to older versions, so that at least the previous macOS version can read/write to APFS-formatted drives.
[Charlie Austin] “Seems like all you need to do is say “don’t format external drives as APFS” right?”
Sure, until you run into a situation outside of your control. Like when your clueless client walks in with an APFS drive that can’t read because you aren’t on HS and no one knows why it can’t be read.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Oliver Peters]”Sure, until you run into a situation outside of your control. Like when your clueless client walks in with an APFS drive that can’t read because you aren’t on HS and no one knows why it can’t be read.”
It seems ironic that I may be better placed to deal with this than Apple users if MacDrive gives me the ability to read write to the gormless clients drive when it can’t be read on most Macs.
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[Andrew Kimery] “From what I read users can opt-out of using APFS on spinning drives, but if the default is APFS then I bet most will users will end up using APFS.”
Well, it seems as though, as it always has, High Sierra Disk Utility defaults to whatever the drive is currently formatted to. If it’s EX-Fat, than that’s the “default”. If HFS+ than that’s the default. You have to explicitly choose APFS on a drive that’s been previously formatted. Not sure what happens on a bare drive, but that’s a pretty unusual scenario for most users.
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~\”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.\”~
~I still need to play Track Tetris sometimes. An old game that you can never win~
~\”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented\”~ -
From Shirt Pocket’s blog (SuperDuper!):
https://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/index.php/shadedgrey/comments/news_on_the_march/
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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