To APFS or not to APFS ....

[Peter Franks]

.... That is the question. Can I keep my old HFS file system if I upgrade from Sierra to High Sierra, I've read on here you can but can't remember if it was idiot proof or not, and If even I could do it.

Some have told me to do this, and some ask why bother? Any help appreciated before I upgrade, early 2011 MBP with SSD

 

[Gregg2]

Yes, it's "idiot proof", as the transition is made in Mojave.

(Or so I thought... subsequent posts here contradict that. Chalk it up to my failing memory. I thought that did not happen when I upgraded to HS.)

 

[Peter Franks]

I don't follow what you mean. My MBP can't upgrade to Mojave.

What transition, Are you saying it goes back to HFS+ in Mojave? Am guessing not, so I maybe didn't make the question clear, Can I upgrade to HIGH Sierra from Sierra but keep HFS+ and bypass APFS.

The highest OS my MBP can go to is High Sierra, Not Mojave.

I should probably also ask if I don't want APFS is there any other good reason to upgrade?

 

[MarkC426]

You can upgrade to HS and choose not to have APFS (I did this recently, without any problems).

You need to enter some text into Terminal, but I can’t find any of the threads at the minute with the procedure.....

Remember to have a backup before upgrading.

Mojave doesn’t have this option, but I think some people have found a workaround.

 

[Peter Franks]

You can upgrade to HS and choose not to have APFS (I did this recently, without any problems).

You need to enter some text into Terminal, but I can’t find any of the threads at the minute with the procedure.....

Remember to have a backup before upgrading.

Mojave doesn’t have this option, but I think some people have found a workaround.

Thanks, did you see any benefit upgrading to High Sierra, without the newer file system.
If I'm honest, I don't even remember why I was told not to update to APFS. But if I don't, what benefit from Sierra to High Sierra?

 

[MarkC426]

Not particularly.
My RX580 is recognised properly in HS, and has better drivers.
But apart from that not much.
You do need to upgrade to HS though before moving to Mojave.

Check any older applications still work in HS also.

Hopefully someone will chime in with the required text.
Don’t want to give you the wrong stuff.....

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I went with APFS after I installed a SSD in my Mac about 6 months ago and it’s been fine. I’m not sure what improvements it made because going from a platter drive to a SSD made a huge difference in performance but, I didn’t have any negative effects from the file system change. Everything works just like it should

 

[Peter Franks]

Not particularly.
My RX580 is recognised properly in HS, and has better drivers.
But apart from that not much.
You do need to upgrade to HS though before moving to Mojave.

Check any older applications still work in HS also.

Hopefully someone will chime in with the required text.
Don’t want to give you the wrong stuff.....

I can't update to Mojave on this MBP anyway, so not a problem.
Pretty sure Photoshop Elements 9 dies with HS, and possibly my Word 2011? They both need serious updates.

I went with APFS after I installed a SSD in my Mac about 6 months ago and it’s been fine. I’m not sure what improvements it made because going from a platter drive to a SSD made a huge difference in performance but, I didn’t have any negative effects from the file system change. Everything works just like it should

I changed to an SSD when I still had Snow Leopard on mine, (I had been on SL for 7 years!) and it was lightning fast. When I then went to Sierra this year, not so much. But sadly I can't go back to Snow Leopard, so much was unusable in today's compatibility of iTunes/iPhone etc. But Sierra is OK, it's a hell of a lot more glitchy than SL and a lot slower in many ways, including all browsers etc. But could be age of the MBP with later OS.