Apple has announced that iOS 10.3, just released as a first beta, will automatically migrate your data to Apple File System (APFS). APFS is already part of macOS Sierra, but in a limited form.
My two cents: Be sure you have a solid backup of your iOS installs before you move to a 10.3 beta. APFS is a major file system revision. Makes sense to have a backup before any beta install, but APFS makes the backup doubly important.
Here are some writeups on APFS, if you want to learn more:
– Amsys blog: This is a nice starting place. It’s short, easy to process, covers the highlights.
– Here’s the WWDC video that introduced APFS to the world. Straight from the horse’s mouth.
– Finally, there’s this detailed take on APFS, from Adam Leventhal, released just after WWDC.
Did I mention you should make a backup before you do your iOS 10.3 beta install? I did? Good.
Soooo, what you’re saying is install 10.3 and don’t worry about backing up?
I’m guessing we’ll see lots of reports of “bricked” iPhones and find out how many of our friends, colleagues, and distant relatives didn’t have active iCloud backups.
lol
One should always have a backup. It is rare that media (HDD, SDD, thumb drives) come back … The term is “known good backup” – preferably tested. Also note RAID 1, 5, 6, etc… do not count as backups.
100% great advice that will probably be ignored by many. Thanks for bringing it up and thanks for having reader comments still. Many blogs have gotten rid of them, good to see can still comment here.
Also, if you are thinking of using APFS for non-startup volume on macOS Sierra, be warned that:
Having said that, I’ve been using APFS (formatted from 10.12.2) on external disk that has iTunes media files without any problems.
Yes, one of the 4 HDDs in my RAID 5 NAS just broke down last night.. 🙁