What is the Best format for external spinning drive to Time Machine APFS or HFS+ ?
Here’s what Apple has to say on the subject:
APFS or APFS Encrypted disks are the preferred format for a Time Machine backup disk. If you select a new backup disk that’s not already formatted as an APFS disk, you get the option to erase and reformat it. If the disk is a Mac OS Extended format disk that contains an existing Time Machine backup, you aren’t asked to erase and reformat the disk.
I have two Time Machine backups: an SSD connected to my M1 MacBook Pro (macOS Ventura) and a spinning HD connected to my late 2015 iMac (macOS Monterey). Both are formatted as APFS volumes and encrypted.
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