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clone

Inside APFS: from containers to clones

How APFS containers and volumes work. What hard links, clones and sparse files are, and when they break down.

January 2, 2023 Macs, Technology

Free space on an APFS volume is an illusion

You’re in control of a traditional file system, but with snapshots, clones, sparse files and other volumes sharing free space, APFS isn’t as simple.

December 30, 2022 Macs, Technology

Copy, clone, backup: is there a difference?

Copies, clones and backups are three different things. Here their differences are explained with examples from APFS and modern macOS.

October 1, 2022 Macs, Technology

Has the Finder become badly behaved?

T T Read More

Dragging a file to copy/move it from one location to another used to be simple. Now it’s complicated by iCloud, dropbox behaviour in AirDrop and Universal Control, and more.

June 16, 2022 Macs, Technology

Explainer: Disk free space

Confused by this on APFS? So you should be, as it’s complicated by features like snapshots, sparse files, and the file system itself. There’s no single figure.

December 4, 2021 Macs, Technology

Copying a Mac volume to another file system (and back)

Tired of HFS+? Disenchanted by APFS? Why not copy or back up to a different file system? Here are crocodiles waiting to bite you.

November 25, 2021 Macs, Technology

Using an M1 Mac: some basic principles

M1 Macs are different, as they always start booting from their internal SSD. Basic configurations are simple, reliable with well-established disaster recovery methods.

November 9, 2021 Macs, Technology

Why nothing else can back up to APFS like Time Machine does

A lot of what Time Machine does when making backups to an APFS volume remains a mystery. So far we don’t understand the magic used by Apple.

July 30, 2021 Macs, Technology

Explainer: deduplication

Track down all those duplicated files, and you could save yourself loads of disk space. Rather, you used to be able to. Why this doesn’t work so well now.

May 29, 2021 Macs, Technology

Why cloning Big Sur isn’t as useful for an M1 Mac

For some, inability to clone to the internal SSD of an M1 Mac seems disastrous. In reality, it could achieve little, and there are better solutions.

May 28, 2021 Macs, Technology

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