Apple File System

Not to be confused with Apple File Service (AFS), the service implementing the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP).
Not to be confused with Andrew File System (AFS), the distributed file system.

APFS
Developer(s)Apple Inc.
Full nameApple File System
Introduced
  • iOS: 27 March 2017 (7 years ago) (27 March 2017)
  • macOS: 25 September 2017 (7 years ago) (25 September 2017)
with iOS 10.3, macOS 10.13
Preceded byHFS Plus
Partition IDs7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC (GPT)
Structures
Directory contentsB-tree[1]
Limits
Max file size8 Exabyte (9,223,372,036,854,775,808 bytes)[2]
Max no. of files9,223,372,036,854,775,808[2]
Allowed filename
characters		Unicode 9.0 encoded in UTF-8[3]
Features
Dates recordedaccess, attributes modified, contents modified, created
Date rangeJanuary 1, 1970 – July 21, 2554[1]
Date resolution1 nanosecond[2]
File system
permissions		Unix permissions, NFSv4 ACLs
Transparent
compression		Partial (decmpfs)[4]
Transparent
encryption		Yes[5]
Copy-on-writeYes[3][5]
Other
Supported
operating systems		macOS, iPadOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS

Apple File System (APFS) is a proprietary file system developed and deployed by Apple Inc. for macOS Sierra (10.12.4)[6] and later, iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2,[7] watchOS 3.2,[8] and all versions of iPadOS.[9][10] It aims to fix core problems of HFS+ (also called Mac OS Extended), APFS's predecessor on these operating systems. APFS is optimized for solid-state drive storage and supports encryption, snapshots, and increased data integrity, among other capabilities.[11][12]

  1. ^ a b Hansen, K.H.; Toolan, F. (September 21, 2017). "Decoding the APFS file system". Digital Investigation. 22: 107–132. doi:10.1016/j.diin.2017.07.003. ISSN 1742-2876.
  2. ^ a b c "Volume Format Comparison". Apple Developer. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference appleApfsFaq2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Bertin, René. "Compression and APFS". Github. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference appleFileSystemGuide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Vigo, Jesus (April 13, 2017). "How to set up and use Apple's APFS file system on macOS Sierra". TechRepublic.
  7. ^ "tvOS 10.2". What's New in tvOS. Apple Inc.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Verge update today was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Roger Fingas (June 13, 2016). "'Apple File System' will scale from Apple Watch to Macs, replace HFS+". Apple Insider. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016.
  10. ^ Hutchinson, Lee (June 13, 2016). "Digging into APFS, Apple's new file system". Ars Technica UK. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference 9to5Mac APFS announced was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ars APFS spotted was invoked but never defined (see the help page).