Introduced in iOS 10.3 on 27 March 2017, then in macOS 10.13 six months later. It ups and downs, and where it still has further to go.
APFS
B+trees, directory records, directory and file names and Unicode normalisation, and whatever happened to the promise of fast directory sizing?
We’re almost unaware of clone files, and how they’ve changed macOS. But look at most documents that have been saved more than once, and you’ll see they’ve now be cloned.
Understanding how APFS works: inodes, attributes, file extents, extended attributes, and how they change with editing and cloning.
How are snapshots made, and what do they contain? How are they sized, and can they grow? How can you copy a snapshot, or remove a file from one?
How to read T2M2’s report on your Time Machine backups, interpret the results, and discover where any problems are occurring.
Why did that progress dialog suddenly vanish long before it had even reached 50% of the copying progress?
Minor update to version 2 for recent macOS backing up using Time Machine to APFS. This lets you reduce the number of error messages shown.
Knowing a little about sparse and clone files in APFS is dangerous, as it can lead you to draw the wrong conclusions.
For Big Sur and later, specifically tailored to provide full analysis and troubleshooting of hourly Time Machine backups to APFS in Sonoma.
The Eclectic Light Company 