Most modern Mac computers, from your basic MacBook and MacBook Pro to your iMac, iMac Pro, and Mac Mini’s, all have SSDs in them now. While divisive at first, APFS has proven itself to be a powerful drive format for Mac users for a variety of reasons.įirst, APFS was designed with flash storage Solid-State Drives (SSDs) in mind. Upgrading to this operating system forced your computer to completely update the hard drive – making it impossible ever to go backward. Released in March of 2017, APFS was first used on macOS Sierra. So let’s break down each format one by one.

With so many options for how you can format a new hard drive, how do you know which option is the right one for you? And moreover, will it even be compatible with your computer?

exFAT – Extensible File Allocation Table.

HFS – Hierarchical File System, otherwise known as MacOS.

Your hard drive can be formatted to many different formats, and each of these formats serves a specific purpose:

Have you ever been in the hard drive aisle at the electronics store and wondered, “Hey, will this drive work on my computer?” Worry not! This article will help you better understand what all those drive formats mean and which one is the best drive format for you.

Mac os extended or windows disk format