File Systems - APFS

Question 1

What is APFS?

Answer 1

APFS
● Available from macOS 10.12
● From 2017, macOS 10.13 High Sierra:
standard file system for MAC computers
containing SSD
● Implemented also on iPhone, iPad
● Not an extension of HFS+
● Using “container”

Question 2

What are ‘containers’?

Answer 2

APFS ‐ Containers
● Hold the Logical Volumes
● One or more containers on a hard drive
● One or multiple Logical Volumes within a
container
● One of Logical Volumes is the operating
system volume (for bootable drives)
● APFS volume may have different file system types: APFS‐Unencrypted, APFS‐encrypted,

Question 3

What is APFS Space Sharing?

Answer 3

APFS – Space sharing
● Allow multiple volumes to reside in the same container and share the free space among them
● APFS only create the volumes with the
required space needed for the necessary
files.
● Allow for volumes to grow in size if needed

Question 4

What is an APFS Snapshot

Answer 4

APFS – Snapshot
● A copy of the file system at a specific point intime
● Standalone, mountable copy
● Provide a point to where the Mac can be
restored
● Each file and folder have the state of the
data archived in the snapshot at the time of
its creation
● File system snapshot is read only

Question 5

3 Levels of APFS Encryption

Answer 5

APFS – Encryption
Three levels of encryption: No Encryption,
Single Key Encryption and Multiple Key
Encryption.

Using one of two varieties of AES encryption,
AES‐XTS or AES‐CBC