ExFAT VS APFS - Which is the fastest Mac disk format using Apple Silicon on a MacBook Pro M1 Max?

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ExFAT VS APFS - Which is the fastest Mac disk format using Apple Silicon on a MacBook Pro M1 Max?

What is the best format for your external drives on Mac, ExFAT or APFS?

So what I'm doing in this video is to format the same external SSD twice to two different file systems. First time using the ExFAT file system and the second time using the APFS file system.

Running the Blackmagic Disk Speed Utility it's clear to see that the APFS file system format is noticeably faster than the ExFAT file system format and considerably faster when writing.

The external drive I'm using is one that I've put together that is using an Acasis USB4.0 enclosure with a WB Black SN850X 4TB NVME M.2 SSD inside of it. This drive is also Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 compatible.

It's worth noting that this USB4.0 external SSD is backward compatible with all USB standards back down to USB2. I tried the drive on an old Dell Optiplex Windows PC on its front USB2 ports and it worked perfectly, as well as the USB3 ports on the rear.

Here's a video showing how to put this drive together, the video also has some extensive speed tests, including real world data transferring.

Video Chapters:
00:00 Intro and video explanation
01:11 ExFAT vs APFS speed test
04:44 End summary

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Cheers,
Dave.

#DavidHarry#LiverpoolTV

[DavidHarry]

ExFAT VS APFS - Which is the fastest Mac disk format using Apple Silicon on a MacBook Pro M1 Max?

What is the best format for your external drives on Mac, ExFAT or APFS?

So what I'm doing in this video is to format the same external SSD twice to two different file systems. First time using the ExFAT file system and the second time using the APFS file system.

Running the Blackmagic Disk Speed Utility it's clear to see that the APFS file system format is noticeably faster than the ExFAT file system format and considerably faster when writing.

The external drive I'm using is one that I've put together that is using an Acasis USB4.0 enclosure with a WB Black SN850X 4TB NVME M.2 SSD inside of it. This drive is also Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 compatible.

It's worth noting that this USB4.0 external SSD is backward compatible with all USB standards back down to USB2. I tried the drive on an old Dell Optiplex Windows PC on its front USB2 ports and it worked perfectly, as well as the USB3 ports on the rear.

Here's a video showing how to put this drive together, the video also has some extensive speed tests, including real world data transferring.

VIDEO

Video Chapters:
00:00 Intro and video explanation
01:11 ExFAT vs APFS speed test
04:44 End summary

Please give a thumbs up, share, sub & click the bell for notifications.

The stuff I mostly use to produce my videos

Cameras:

Microphones & Preamps:

HDMI Capture Device:

Computer & Software:

My Amazon links are affiliate links. Using these links does not cost you anything. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This gives me a small commission when buy using my product links, at no cost to you. These commissions help my channel and their use is greatly appreciated.


My YouTube equipment & recommendations:

My Amazon Shop links:

My global Amazon links:

Contact me for product reviews. I DO NOT RESPOND TO VIEWER QUESTIONS.


I’m David Harry. Thank you very much for watching this video, take care and goodbye now.

Cheers,
Dave.

#DavidHarry#LiverpoolTV

[DaveDFX]

ExFat has no journaling and is prone to corruption especially if the external drive gets yanked or encounter power problem.

[mrchrisbeaver]

Love your style, no dicking around and straight to the facts 👍

[Frytech]

Interesting video. Now I’m curious how would the old HFS+ (MacOS Extended as they call it) fare in that comparison.

[vimch]

Thank you for the explanation! You've made it very clear and easy to understand :)

[Metroih]

Another excellent video. These have been very helpful for me to decide which enclosure and SSD to purchase. Thanks!

[I.a.m.]

Holly that’s awesome!! How did we miss this. I’ve been skeptical about using APFS as a format for my hard drives just because I am afraid when I have to share data. But lately I’ve only been sharing data thru the clouds or email and electronic transferring methods. I realized I don’t use my hard drives other than on my macs for backups so I will definitely change them to APFS. Thank you so much this was very informative and amazing!!! ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 great videoooo

[darrenbermingham]

This was really helpful. Great, concise, pointed video. Super work. Subbed.

[dsr]

So I've actually just done my own tests with a SanDisk Pro-G40, and it was quite different. Interestingly enough, when reading it with APFS for Windows, I found out the SSD that's in it is a WD SN850X. With it, I tried first APFS (which were pretty much the same numbers as this). Though with formatting in ExFat, there was not that much of a hit: only 100MBps slower with write and same read. Since your ExFat was under 2000MBps, I'm thinking there can be differences with the controller. I was wondering differences as I'll also use this drive with PCs. I'm thinking I'll still keep it APFS just in case it stays cooler and more reliable with my Mac. I have Paragon's APFS for Windows. Even though SanDisk claims the drive can switch to USB 3.2...I have one computer that's only USB and not thunderbolt. I tried writing to the SanDisk with it (and APFS for Windows), but the computer could not play a video I wrote to, and couldn't eject the drive. I then tried on one of my other PCs that supports thunderbolt 4 with its USB-C ports, and had no issues with APFS for Windows.I haven't tried a benchmark on it with APFS for windows....but I'm guessing since the controller can still be thunderbolt, it would also be faster than my USB 3.2x2 SSD.

[alanhartmann]

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. My only remaining question is how much will I miss not being able to access the device from my windows computers if I go with APFS, which you obviously can't answer. Tough decision. Exfat isn't exactly slow, so I'm leaning in that direction.

[deepalwije]

Really useful video. Thank you so much for your knowledge sharing.

[bonzer]

thanks for the.vdo, excatly what i was looking to try for

[Freight_Up_Trucker]

Thanks for this video. One thing I would like to know. Which one is more secure and less likely to have file corruption?

[analysistv]

it's useful, Really good video. Thank you so much for your knowledge sharing.

[MarcoPolux]

great video! Will APFS Encrypted be slower?

[marcusbarnes]

So good man you covered everything...perfectly👍

[TonesAdventuresHD]

Good demo Dave! I guess exfat is the more universal format!

[TheWindyvalley]

There is no difference in speed between exFAT and APFS on iMac 2020 27" for Samsung T9. I can get 1000 MB/s, although it claims a speed up to 2000 MB/s.

[BryceAllwin]

What about the other APFS options that there are? Also can this be done on an iPad Air 4?

[basilalharbi]

on my ssd it is the same speed, why is that?