This is thanks to the new Apple File System (APFS) which replaced the old HFS+. Best MacBook Air deals for October 2020. Elsewhere on IDG sites. The Mate 40 Pro won’t sell in the UK.
Paragon’s here to help. Its new Retrofit Kit is a driver that allows legacy macOS and OS X releases to read APFS volumes. Once installed, it requires no additional user input — it just works.
APFS is the Apple File System. It was introduced at WWDC 2016 and, starting this year, it will replace the existing HFS+ file system on Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac, and Mac Pro. Apple made a developer preview available for macOS Sierra back at WWDC 2016. If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended. Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk? If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Day one 2 1 2. Hey guys, this ones a bit of a novel but I’d appreciate any help as I’ve spent all evening troubleshooting this and am lost.
Model: Early 2011 MacBook Pro 15”, put in a SSD + 8GB RAM about 3 years ago. Also have taken the DVD Drive out, other than that it’s stock.
Situation:
Just bought myself a new 16” and was in the process of formatting the drive on the 2011 so I can sell it. My 2011 has the infamous failing graphics card issue which didn’t happen until this year so I wasn’t in the timeframe with Apple to get it covered. I’ve managed to have the computer work great bypassing the dedicated GPU and using the integrated one but every time there’s a software update it overrides where I’ve placed the GPU kexts and I have to do it over again. Not a big deal.
I’ve moved all my data over to my new MBP via migration assistant and went ahead to format the 2011. Went into Recovery mode erased the drive, reinstalled the latest OSX and went to go and setup the GPU bypass so the next person wouldn’t have to do it. All went well except the when I was trying to unmount the disk the permissions weren’t allowing me to. I looked through forums, tried reinstalling OSX again, etc. But couldn’t get the drive to unmount so I could flush the changes to it.
Somewhere I read to reset the PRAM and for some reason this was the straw that broke the camels back. Every time I start up my machine now whether it’s Single User Mode or Verbose Mode or anything that has the potential to access Terminal I get:
“Error!!! Could not find APFS system volume handle”
And my machine simply goes to a grey screen with a prohibited Apple logo
Here’s what I’ve tried and the results:
Macbook Pro Format Apfs
Recovery mode: automatically boots to Internet Recovery. Gets 100% of the way and then just sits at a grey screen. Have to manually power off.
Single User Mode: boots to a terminal looking screen but just says “Error!!! Could not find APFS system volume handle”. Proceeds to Prohibited Apple logo grey screen, manual power off.
Verbose Mode: same as above
Startup Utility: I had an El Capitan bootable drive laying around which I tried to boot from. It will get 100% of the way and then proceed to sit at a blank grey screen. Have to manual power off.
I got on chat with Apple Support and they’re useless, basically just dodged my questions for an hour and sent me unrelated articles from apple.com.
Anybody have any insight on what to do/I should try next? Essentially if I can get to Terminal or Disk Utility I can make it happen. Really would hate to just junk this rig, It’s been good to me and would like to sell it or pass it on to one of my cousins.
Is this a good question?
Ever since the new file system surfaced in the world of Mac, it has been unclear whether it has been good or bad. While there are a lot of good things that can be said about it, there also happen to be several drawbacks. Some of which is rather annoying.
If you are not familiar with what I am referring to, APFS is a new file system that has been introduced by Apple. It has been around for about a year now. If you are a new Mac owner or a new MacBookPro owner, you will notice that when you go into Disk Utility, your file system is no longer HFS+ but APFS.
So what exactly does that mean? What is the change all about?
Well, considering the change, let’s take a look at the pros first.
1. Speed
It is fast. Managing files, copying, and transferring files is insanely fast. For some users with massive files, this could be a very important plus.
2. Security
It contains full single or multi-key encryption to keep all data safe. Again, for many users, this will be a huge benefit when dealing with file sharing and other transfers.
Apfs Macbook Pro Software
3. Less Corruption
File corruption or metadata corruption is not as common as in HFS+. Nothing can put a damper on a full day of work like discovering a corruption on a data file that may impact your work progress in a negative way.
4. Less Crashing
It has far better crash protection. Nothing brings a project to a screeching halt like a crash. It isn’t always easy to get back to that momentum once the system is back up and running.
Then there are the cons. These seem to be a bit more critical, at least from my perspective.
1. Time Machine
If you plan on using Time Machine on your newly formatted APFS Mac, you might run into problems. That’s because Time Machine backup drives can only be formatted to HFS+ file system and still be read by APFS file system.
Macbook Pro Apfs Volume
2. Not Supported By Older OS
You would think that if you are creating a new file system that you would sort of want it to be backward compatible with older operating systems, right? Well, of course, you would. However, the APFS is not compatible with all OSX or older Sierra versions of MacOS.
3. Flash and SSD Optimized
Yes, it works well with flash and SSD based machines. Fusion or hybrid, not so much, except for MacOS Mojave. And when it comes down to regular hard drives, you are not going to see any measurable speed differences at all.
4. Data Recovery
Apfs Macbook Pro Refurbished
Data recovery from APFS can be a lot more complicated than from its predecessor HFS+. That is especially true if you are looking to use the software yourself. In fact, the software may not even be able to recognize the file system at all. Professional help would be your next step to follow which translates to mean there will be a larger investment required to recover the data.
There also happen to be several other pros and cons that I haven’t covered in depth here such as… snapshots, integrity checksums or NVRAM utilization. But all of these items would only come into play if you are a more experienced user.
In Conclusion
Apfs Macbook Pro Vs
If you have a brand new Mac or MacBookPro, congratulations. The chances are that the ‘new’ APFS file system was installed into your machine by default. That’s not entirely a bad thing because if you are a Mac user who has no need for or doesn’t intend to use Time Machine or plan to work with older operating systems, for whatever the reason, you’ll be fine. The new file system offers a fair deal of good reasons to have it onboard.
Now, if you would rather have access to Time Machine or you happen to have Macs with older operating systems you want to connect with your new one, the previous HFS+ file system would be a better fit for you.
Again, it really does depend on what you are using your computer for and what you expect it to do for you. My goal here was to share with you a few of the observations I have made in comparing the two file systems. As I indicated above, there are a number of good things about the change to the newer file system and there are a few drawbacks. The type of user you are will determine what impact these changes will have on your overall experience.
Apfs Macbook Pro Specs
About the author: Yevgeniy Kapishon is a hardcore techno enthusiast, a senior data recovery engineer and a blogger at Aesonlabs® Data Recovery Systems, living in Toronto, Canada. In his free time, he likes to wander and explore the back alleys of his neighborhood or carve into his favorite sci-fi flicks.