Philip Houska Monday's presentation at the WWDC 2016 developer conference lasted two hours, but Apple was far from able to mention all the news that it (and not only) has prepared for developers. At the same time, one of the upcoming innovations is really essential - Apple intends to replace the rather outdated HFS+ file system with its own solution, which it called Apple File System (APFS) and will be used for all its products.
The new Apple File System is completely rebuilt from the ground up compared to HFS+, which has existed in various variations for decades, and mainly brings optimization for SSDs and flash storage that support TRIM operations. Furthermore, it will also provide users with much more secure data encryption (and natively without the need to use FileVault) or more significant protection of data files in case of operating system crashes.
APFS also handles so-called sparse files that contain large chunks of zero bytes, and the big change is case-sensitive, because while the HFS+ file system was case-sensitive, which could lead to problems s during OS X, or now macOS, the Apple File System will remove the sensitivity. However, Apple says that won't be the case to begin with, just as its new system won't yet work on bootable and Fusion Drive discs.
Otherwise, Apple expects to use this new file system in all its devices, from the Mac Pro to the smallest Watch.
The timestamps have also changed compared to HFS+. APFS now has a nanosecond parameter, which is a noticeable improvement over the seconds of the older HFS+ file system. Another important feature of AFPS is "Space Sharing", which eliminates the need for fixed sizes of individual partitions on the disk. On the one hand, they will be able to be changed without the need for reformatting, and at the same time, the same partition will be able to share multiple file systems.
Support for backups or restores using snapshots and better cloning of files and directories will also be a key feature for users.
Apple File System is currently available in a developer version of the newly introduced macOS Sierra, but it cannot be used in full for the time being due to the lack of Time Machine, Fusion Drive or FileVault support. The option to use it on the boot disk is also missing. All this should be resolved by next year, when apparently APFS will be officially offered to regular users.
