M1 - Optimization utility needed?

[Gregg2]

I recently got a new Mac with the M1 chip. I don't see optimization being discussed here. I know it wasn't needed (or couldn't be done) on an APFS Mac, so is this just an out of date maintenance routine now?

 

[chabig]

I've been using Macs since 1986 and I am not familiar with what you're asking. What exactly do you hope to optimize? If some small change could possible make the machine work better, Apple would already make it operate that way.

 

[jdb8167]

I recently got a new Mac with the M1 chip. I don't see optimization being discussed here. I know it wasn't needed (or couldn't be done) on an APFS Mac, so is this just an out of date maintenance routine now?

Are you asking for a disk optimizer? SSDs don't work the same way as spinning hard drives. They are solid state and random access. Internal to the SSD controller, they optimize automatically for wear leveling and trim.

 

[LinkRS]

Howdy Gregg2,

I will go out on a limb here, and ask if you are referring to disk optimization? This is typically also known as disk defragmentation, and is pretty much obsolete with Solid State Storage, in the context you are thinking of. Since there are no moving parts, performance does not suffer the same way if a file is physically spit across multiple sections of the disk, plus due to wear-leveling algorithms used in most SSD controllers, it is a bad idea to run a disk defragmenter on one. Does this answer your question?

Rich S.

 

[chabig]

Piling on, the need for manual disk defragmentation on Mac rotating disks went away in 2002 when Apple included background defragmentation into Mac OS 10.2 Tiger.

 

[haralds]

"Optimization" is not only obsolete for APFS or HFS+ on SSD, but would introduce unneeded wear.

 

[Gregg2]

Does this answer your question?

Yes it does, thanks!

Piling on, the need for manual disk defragmentation on Mac rotating disks went away in 2002 when Apple included background defragmentation into Mac OS 10.2 Tiger.

Wow! That's really obsolete. I keep my Macs for 8-10 years, so the most recently retired one did not need to be optimized. I used to use TechTool Pro to Optimize the disk and files on my older Mac. So I looked at Micromat's web site, and they are still touting both procedures, which didn't seem right to me, thus my post here. Why would they still include that on their TechTool Pro page? It doesn't make sense.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes it does, thanks!

Wow! That's really obsolete. I keep my Macs for 8-10 years, so the most recently retired one did not need to be optimized. I used to use TechTool Pro to Optimize the disk and files on my older Mac. So I looked at Micromat's web site, and they are still touting both procedures, which didn't seem right to me, thus my post here. Why would they still include that on their TechTool Pro page? It doesn't make sense.

Not sure if I would agree with your impression that Micromat is "touting both procedures". The feature is mentioned, but there is a footnote:

**Note: Defragmenting (Optimizing) is not supported for APFS volumes, and is not advised for any drive with a Solid State component. Solid state drives do not benefit from defragmentation, which only serves to wear out those drives sooner. Optimization for APFS rotational drives is not yet possible with the current amount of APFS documentation provided by Apple, which currently provides insufficient documentation for defragmenting a disk.

 

[Gregg2]

Ok. I suppose there are still old Macs out there that might benefit from optimization, but on a page that is for the newest version, compatible with Monterey, it seems out of place to even mention it.

 

[Fishrrman]

NONE of the 3rd party disk defragmentation or optimization utilities will work on an m-series Mac, or on one that has its drive formatted to APFS.

It's still possible to defrag an SSD in an Intel Mac that is formatted to HFS+.
Just tried using "iDefrag" on one of the HFS+ partitions on my 2018 Mini, and it works as expected...