Understanding Partition Schemes
Partition types, or as Apple refers to them, partition schemes, define how the partition map is organized on a hard drive. Apple directly supports three different partition schemes: Apple File System (APFS), Mac OS Extended, and MS-DOS (FAT)\ExFAT. With three different partition maps available, which one should you use when you format or partition a hard drive? Apple File System (APFS): The primary file system used by macOS 10.13 or later. It is the default file system for macOS. There are several types of APFS.
APFS: Uses the APFS format.APFS (Encrypted): Uses the APFS format and encrypts the partition.APFS (Case-sensitive): Uses APFS format and has case-sensitive folders and filenames.APFS (Case-sensitive, Encrypted): Uses APFS format, has case-sensitive folders and filenames and encrypts the partition.
Mac OS Extended: This file system is used by macOS 10.12 or earlier. Within Disk Utility, it has 4 different modes as well.
Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Uses the Mac format Journaled HFS Plus to safeguard the integrity of the hierarchical file system (HFS).Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted): Uses the Mac format, encrypts the partition, and requires a password.Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled): Uses the Mac format and has case-sensitive folders.Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted): Uses the Mac format, has case-sensitive folders, encrypts the partition, and requires a password.
MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT: These are file systems used with Microsoft Windows.
ExFAT: This is used for Windows volumes that are 32 GB or less in size.MS-DOS (FAT): This is used for Windows volumes that are over 32 GB in size.
