What's the difference between APFS and APFS (case sensitive)?

My iMac is APFS. It already seems to be 'case sensitive' whenever I save a file.

So why the extra option to format as APFS (case sensitive)?

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 3, 2021 2:07 AM

Similar questions

Questions about APFS I'm using Seagate Backup Plus Portable for time machine. I had to reformat to my to APFS. Under my disk utility it shows used and other volumes one I don't see the other volumes or any files on the external, is this normal? (print screen below) Also, my other question should I allow APFS to be case sensitive or not. It looks when I reformatted it went automatically to case sensitive. This is my first time using APFS so I'm not to familiar with it.
1907 8
Formatting an EHD to APFS Hi-- I'm trying to format an EHD for APFS. I don't get the APFS or GUID option. I tried this (see below) as mentioned in another thread, but maybe I'm understanding the directions wrong. Can someone show a screenshot? Yes, I did. In the meantime I found out that the APFS option only shows up when you select the parental drive in Disk utility (select View all drives in the View menu first, or press Apple-2 = CMD-2, then select the drive, then Erase). Most online advices don't mention that trick, and without knowing that the option may never show. Posted on Dec 20, 2022 11:53 AM
1221 2
Big Sur TimeMachine; use APFS or APFS Case sensitive? also, bundle file extension I backup my MacBook Air to a disk on my Mini. After installing Big Sur on the laptop I created a new APFS volume on the Mini to store the laptop's TimeMachine backups. I had two surprises: TimeMachine on the laptop created an encrypted APFS Case-sensitive file system. I have no case sensitive filesystems on my laptop. Why did it choose case sensitive? I have heard of "issues" with case sensitive filesystems. Is there a way to force or trick TimeMachine into using just plain ole encrypted APFS? The filesystem bundle that holds the backups is named `hostname`.sparsebundle. This seems to a throwback to earlier versions of macOS. Catalina uses the file extension "backupbundle", which seemed to be a sparsebundle plus some metadata. But, the real question is--- after I upgrade the Mini, I'll want to create new a local APFS volume for TimeMachine. The filesystem won't get automatically generated, so should I make them encrypted APFS, or encrypted APFS Case-sensitive? Again, I have no case sensitive filesystems on the Mini. Any reason why encrypted APFS wouldn't work?
2800 5

3 replies

Oct 3, 2021 3:53 AM in response to El Deanio

Here's a description of Apple's flesystems:

https://support.apple.com/it-it/guide/disk-utility/dsku19ed921c/mac

El Deanio Author

Level 3

809 points

Oct 3, 2021 9:16 AM in response to ku4hx

Thanks for replying.

I just worked it out.

The freedom seems to relate to single files and re-saves. I was only thinking of the first time a file is saved.

I tried it out and I now see that I can save a file using any form I like; ALL CAPS; all l/c; or a Mixture Of Both. Plus I may replace an existing file with the same combinations.

With APFS I just can’t create a new files with the same alpha characters.

Got it now.

ku4hx

Level 7

23,694 points

Oct 3, 2021 4:59 AM in response to El Deanio

filename.doc is not the same as FileName.doc. Spelling is the same, but case sensitive means upper case letters make it a unique file name.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

What's the difference between APFS and APFS (case sensitive)?