I recall that it wasn't safe to install on iMac's with fusion drive when MacOS High Sierra first came out, and heard that existing owners should wait. It's been awhile since then so is it safe to finally install update now? I want to be sure before I attempt to do so.
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Is it safe to install MacOS High Sierra on iMac with Fusion Drives now?
- Thread starter 212rikanmofo
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There is supposed to be an update to enable APFS specifically for fusion drives. Who knows when or if it's really coming. When you install and it senses a fusion drive, it will automatically suggest HFS+. Apple strongly suggests you don't try and format in APFS according to what I read.
Sigh, I really wish there was official word from Apple on whether or not it's safe to update or install MacOS High Sierra on iMac's with fusion drives.
It was never unsafe. I don't know where you got that information from. When High Sierra was released, APFS did not have support for Fusion drives... so Fusion drives were not reformatted to APFS during installation of High Sierra; they stayed formatted as HFS+. That's all. High Sierra works FINE on Fusion drives.
Apple said it will support APFS on Fusion drives in a future update.
Apple said it will support APFS on Fusion drives in a future update.
Try this, from MacRumors: Apple's Craig Federighi Confirms APFS Coming to Fusion Drives in a ...
Apple ran into issues with APFS on Fusion during early beta testing, and stopped converting Fusion Drives (and mechanical HDDs) to APFS for those who joined the test afterwards. Therefore, there were many rounds of testing High Sierra on HFS+-formatted Fusion Drives. They made public statements that APFS on Fusion would return in a future release (see above). So far, it hasn't returned (I just installed the first public beta of 10.13.3 - still no APFS).
The purpose of beta testing is to make the public release safe for the public. Whether that means fixing bugs, or withholding proposed features that are not ready for release doesn't matter. The ultimate goal is a public release that works; no warnings required.
Are you looking for a statement from Apple that High Sierra is "safe?" For legal reasons, they wouldn't make such an explicit statement. You have to infer that. https://support.apple.com/HT201475 "Can Your Mac Use High Sierra?" If it was not safe, it would say something like, "**Except models with Fusion Drive." It does not.
What does Apple do to ensure your Fusion Drive's safety? If the installer app encounters an APFS-formatted Fusion Drive, it gracefully ends the installation and generates an error message, little different than if you were trying to install High Sierra onto a Mac running Snow Leopard or Lion. It will only install if your Fusion Drive is formatted HFS+, and it does not convert those drives to APFS.
Bad things can still happen if you install, regardless of what kind of drive you're installing to. That's why that support article also says,
I ran my Fusion Drive on APFS throughout the beta test. At the end of Beta, Apple announced that those of us who were using APFS on our Fusion Drives would have to erase and reformat our Fusion Drives to HFS+ before we could install the public release.
In other words, I and other testers with APFS-formatted Fusion drives spent many hours on a backup/erase/reformat/reinstall/restore from backup because Apple made the High Sierra public release "safe" for Fusion Drives. Oh, the sacrifices beta testers make for the sake of the general public!
The installer won’t install it on an incompatible machine. That’s official. It’ll even choose the right disk format for your specific hardware.
I thought it was the final HFS+ version in question.
The APFS one was just in a beta and never made it for public consumption.
Any specific details? I recently upgraded from El Capitan to Sierra, and my main complaint is it's so much more inefficient - the OS uses 2GB more DRAM all the time, and now the loud fan is on all the time because my laptop runs hot on the same applications that were fine on El Capitan. If High Sierra is even SLOWER, I couldn't bear it.
APFS is always slower than HFS+ and much more so on spinning drives. Even if there will be an update that allows Fusion drives to use APFS, it probably won't be recommended. I understand there are many other advantages to APFS but if speed is important, dont do APFS on Fusion.
UPDATE - Apple Engineering has reproduced the Finder search freezing problem on their machines and knows there are several people at least having reported this issue
If YOU have it, please give them the specifics - you may need to ask the support representative to talk to engineering or ask for a Sr. Advisor to talk to Engineering...
If YOU have it, please give them the specifics - you may need to ask the support representative to talk to engineering or ask for a Sr. Advisor to talk to Engineering...
I have been waiting to upgrade my mid-2010 iMac with its aftermarket fusion drive. I took the plunge yesterday and everything so far has been fine. Changing the file system is not an option you come across in the process so there's no worry about clicking the wrong option and trashing your data.
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I wish I could go back to the last OS...there is nothing good about High Sierra......