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HFS+

Customising metadata display in the Finder

Where to look for file metadata in the Finder, and how you can customise it, in spite of its apparent confusion. And how APFS takes care of extended attributes for you.

June 2, 2023 Macs, Technology

COW and clones: how they save space and SSD wear

How does copy on write work, and how do clones grow apart? What effect do they have on the use of space and performance?

May 4, 2023 Macs, Technology

Apple’s big gamble: the 6th birthday of APFS

When you updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 10.3 six years ago, you were among the first to use Apple File System, although you didn’t know it at the time.

March 27, 2023 Macs, Technology

Which disk image format?

Plain read/write (UDRW), sparse image (UDSP), and sparse bundle (UDSB) compared for storage efficiency, performance, and convenience.

January 12, 2023 Macs, Technology

How plain disk images went sparse in Monterey

In Monterey and Ventura, regular read-write UDRW disk images can now be APFS sparse files, and work more efficiently than sparse images or sparse bundles.

January 9, 2023 Macs, Technology

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

What can you do with Time Machine backups on APFS?

When Time Machine makes its backups to APFS storage, just what can and can’t you do? How can you prevent large temporary files from stealing space on storage?

July 19, 2022 Macs, Technology

How hard disks get slower as they fill up

File data stored towards the periphery of the disk is read and written nearly twice as fast as that near the centre. How to take advantage of this.

May 17, 2022 Macs, Technology

Should you continue using HFS+?

Which is faster with a hard disk: using APFS or sticking with HFS+? Are there any differences in their performance on SSDs?

May 16, 2022 Macs, Technology

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