Millions of non-Mac devices -- but a controlled environment... Think about it... It is much easier to update a File System that is invisible to users and developers while only interfaced by Apple's code -- Jailbreakers, be damned! Couldn't pull that off so easily in an exposed File System system as in macOS!
Millions of non-Mac devices -- but a controlled environment... Think about it... It is much easier to update a File System that is invisible to users and developers while only interfaced by Apple's code -- Jailbreakers, be damned! Couldn't pull that off so easily in an exposed File System system as in macOS!
Very true.
But since the iOS user base is several orders of magnitude larger than the MacOS user base, and arguably more important to Apple, I'm still a bit surprised they pulled the trigger here first.
Still, judging by the silence, this could be one of the most successful mass upgrades in IT history.
Apple needs to rename the "Download and Install" button to instead be "Download Only" because that is all it does. After clicking Download and Install button before I went to bed, expecting a new OS on my phone when I woke up, instead I woke up with a Install Now button (a process that took another 20 minutes). I already gave the iPhone permission to install when I went to bed so why didn't it do it?
My 128Gb IPhone 6+ is about half full and took about 20 minutes to install 10.3. It seems to be running fine -- certainly no slower and maybe a tiny bit quicker...
Millions of non-Mac devices -- but a controlled environment... Think about it... It is much easier to update a File System that is invisible to users and developers while only interfaced by Apple's code -- Jailbreakers, be damned! Couldn't pull that off so easily in an exposed File System system as in macOS!
Very true.
But since the iOS user base is several orders of magnitude larger than the MacOS user base, and arguably more important to Apple, I'm still a bit surprised they pulled the trigger here first.
Still, judging by the silence, this could be one of the most successful mass upgrades in IT history.
Yeah...
I just reviewed the WWDC2016 video introducing APFS.
at about 34 min in.
Several things may contribute to the decision:
The iOS version of HFS+ is different from the macOS version -- there are fewer considerations in the iOS upgrade
Apple's goal was to do the upgrade from HFS to APFS without moving the data -- the new APFS metadata will be written to the HFS+ free space
support for boot volumes, Time Machine and other macOS capabilities was not then provided
many 3rd-party macOS apps need to manipulate the file system at a lower level -- NA in iOS app
But, I agree, this could be one of the most successful mass upgrades in IT history.
Edit: I guess the market agrees: AAPL just hit its all-time high and has a market cap 3/4 $Trillion plus change
Millions of non-Mac devices -- but a controlled environment... Think about it... It is much easier to update a File System that is invisible to users and developers while only interfaced by Apple's code -- Jailbreakers, be damned! Couldn't pull that off so easily in an exposed File System system as in macOS!
1) It would still be invisible to nearly all Mac users, and anyone that gives a damn about it on macOS would also give a damn on iOS.
2) My guess is that it had to do with performance. Since every iOS-based uses NAND it's going to be an improvement in performance, and as a result should increase battery life, since a file copy will be nearly instant.
The iOS version of HFS+ is different from the macOS version -- there are fewer considerations in the iOS upgrade
Apple's goal was to do the upgrade from HFS to APFS without moving the data -- the new APFS metadata will be written to the HFS+ free space
support for boot volumes, Time Machine and other macOS capabilities was not then provided
many 3rd-party macOS apps need to manipulate the file system at a lower level -- NA in iOS app
Those two things are certainly a potential issue for a file system change. More so the latter, since macOS could easily do a system check to see if the system is setup properly for the conversation from HFS+ to APFS.
The bottom line is we know Apple has very good reasons for their actions, and usually moves very cautiously, which makes the move to update iOS to APFS across the board a very interesting move on their part. They were clearly very confident it wasn't going to cause any issues.
PS: I got a new iPhone yesterday so I did the update as soon as it restored, but I would've been interested in see what kind of free space saving the new file system has since it keeps duplicate files at bay.
Apple needs to rename the "Download and Install" button to instead be "Download Only" because that is all it does. After clicking Download and Install button before I went to bed, expecting a new OS on my phone when I woke up, instead I woke up with a Install Now button (a process that took another 20 minutes). I already gave the iPhone permission to install when I went to bed so why didn't it do it?
There are many niggling issues like that, that have existed for a long time.
I noticed that I now have about 2GB more free space on my 6s than before the update. Is that the new file system (more efficient)?
It depends if you checked after it had downloaded the update. The installer would be around 2GB, this would have replaced the existing OS and then freed up the space taken by the installer. It does have a feature where instead of duplicating a file, it can just reference it on the filesystem. This is something they'd be able to use in future to free up space, so it can run a system-wide scan to see if any files are exact duplicates like music, photos or app libraries and free up the duplicates, leaving one version. Any changes to a duplicate would be written in place.
I noticed that I now have about 2GB more free space on my 6s than before the update. Is that the new file system (more efficient)?
It depends if you checked after it had downloaded the update. The installer would be around 2GB, this would have replaced the existing OS and then freed up the space taken by the installer. It does have a feature where instead of duplicating a file, it can just reference it on the filesystem. This is something they'd be able to use in future to free up space, so it can run a system-wide scan to see if any files are exact duplicates like music, photos or app libraries and free up the duplicates, leaving one version. Any changes to a duplicate would be written in place.
I have a 16GB phone, so I check the space pretty often, and it's been a long time since I've had more than 1GB free, and I'm pretty sure I was about out of space before yesterday. It will be interesting to learn more about how the new filesystem...
Comments
Millions of non-Mac devices -- but a controlled environment... Think about it... It is much easier to update a File System that is invisible to users and developers while only interfaced by Apple's code -- Jailbreakers, be damned! Couldn't pull that off so easily in an exposed File System system as in macOS!
But since the iOS user base is several orders of magnitude larger than the MacOS user base, and arguably more important to Apple, I'm still a bit surprised they pulled the trigger here first.
Still, judging by the silence, this could be one of the most successful mass upgrades in IT history.
I just reviewed the WWDC2016 video introducing APFS.
at about 34 min in.
Several things may contribute to the decision:
But, I agree, this could be one of the most successful mass upgrades in IT history.
Edit: I guess the market agrees: AAPL just hit its all-time high and has a market cap 3/4 $Trillion plus change
2) My guess is that it had to do with performance. Since every iOS-based uses NAND it's going to be an improvement in performance, and as a result should increase battery life, since a file copy will be nearly instant.
Those two things are certainly a potential issue for a file system change. More so the latter, since macOS could easily do a system check to see if the system is setup properly for the conversation from HFS+ to APFS.
The bottom line is we know Apple has very good reasons for their actions, and usually moves very cautiously, which makes the move to update iOS to APFS across the board a very interesting move on their part. They were clearly very confident it wasn't going to cause any issues.
PS: I got a new iPhone yesterday so I did the update as soon as it restored, but I would've been interested in see what kind of free space saving the new file system has since it keeps duplicate files at bay.
I have a 16GB phone, so I check the space pretty often, and it's been a long time since I've had more than 1GB free, and I'm pretty sure I was about out of space before yesterday. It will be interesting to learn more about how the new filesystem...