Detailed account and explanation of the sequence of phases during an automatic backup in Sonoma 14.0 and 14.1, with tear-out chart.
Time Machine
First released 16 years ago, it was destined for Time Capsules, and relied on hard links in HFS+. It soon used APFS snapshots, and now uses them as the basis for its backups.
Sonoma’s changes to iCloud can result in very large and protracted syncs, that can block Time Machine backups from completing. Here’s what you can try, and what you shouldn’t do.
Do you need to back it up when the problem is minor? Should you erase its internal storage? Anything else you need to do?
Using local Time Machine backup, iCloud Recovery, and saved versions to recover previous and current versions of files in iCloud Drive, and their limitations.
How to plan and assemble faster backup systems for Time Machine, whether to change I/O policy, and how to minimise their size using exclusions.
hdiutil chpass, the only means of changing passwords for sparse bundles, doesn’t work in macOS Ventura 13.3.1. The workaround requires a VM and 13.1.
Save space on your storage and backups by removing all copies. But does it work if they’re APFS clone files? And does that housekeeping utility detect clones for you?
Performed by CacheDelete, it first looks at a wide range of macOS caches, and only at the end purges snapshots, to free up space when it runs short.
Good space management doesn’t bring new emoji, but it makes a big difference when the Finder doesn’t give completely inaccurate figures for Available space. A practical demonstration of its gross errors.
The Eclectic Light Company 