Unlike HFS+ backups, those on APFS volumes look different depending on how you try to access them. What you see in the Finder is an illusion not available to other apps.
macOS 11
Do you know what Shift-dragging the edge of a windows does to it? Or Option-double-clicking an edge? Here’s a summary of the window controls you may have missed.
Analysis of the phases of backing up to APFS shows the many similarities with that to HFS+. Crucial differences arise from the use of snapshots as backups.
A blow-by-blow account of what happens when Time Machine in Big Sur performs an automated backup to an APFS volume.
If you use the Installer app the wrong way, it will open an ad-hoc signed package and quietly install apps which don’t get checked by Gatekeeper.
The DTKs have been returned, ending the first phase of the transition to Apple Silicon. What comes next, and what are the top three problems which Apple needs to address?
Time to speak Klingon to your Mac. Or, rather, don’t try this at home or you could end up with mixed languages, and Help pages in something else.
Total updates required by 10.14 were 21.5 GB in 10 updates; for 10.15, those rose to 32.2 GB in 12 updates. For M1 Macs, Big Sur has already required 22.3 GB in 6 updates, and it hasn’t got to version 11.3 yet.
How each of the three different backup schemes used by Time Machine has worked, and how snapshots can work as backups.
How can you check the integrity of important files you have stored in iCloud, or in a Time Machine backup, such as those made by Big Sur to APFS?
The Eclectic Light Company 