How Time Machine has changed since it appeared in 2007, and how backing up to APFS volumes is different now it’s available in Big Sur.
APFS
APFS is almost 4 years old, and set out to solve the problem of accumulation of minor errors which has plagued HFS+. Has it?
Detailed account of disk, volume and folder layouts on Big Sur’s boot disks, complete with roadmaps which are downloadable as PDFs.
Boot disk volume layout is intricate in Big Sur. M1 Macs lose the EFI partition on their internal SSDs and gain two more for APFS. Contents of /System/Volumes has also changed.
Diagrams of the layout of volumes on boot disks for macOS 10.13 to 11, covering both Intel and M1 models.
There’s no more critical app on your Mac, yet Disk Utility has suffered years of neglect – years in which APFS has grown many new features, and all Disk Utility gets is bugs and workaround.
Securing sensitive data from access by others, and safeguarding it from loss of damage, is common. Solutions range from encrypted images to specialist external disks.
We don’t know when Apple decided to introduce Big Sur’s SSV, but even now it hasn’t told users it won’t be releasing standalone updates for 11.0.1 or 11.1.
When does an M1 Mac validate its Sealed System Volume? Who designed its display interface? How soon does Find My Mac launch? So many answers found in the log.
For many, this could be the best reason for upgrading early. Even when it doesn’t go quite as expected, this really isn’t difficult.
The Eclectic Light Company 