macOS 10.13 All The Little Things!

[NT1440]

This surprises me. A new FS with snapshot supports should allow for a brand new, much faster Time Machine routine. No more symlinks, just snapshots. But it seems Apple hasn't touched TimeMachine with High Sierra, even to the point it doesn't even support APFS. This could have/should have been the showpiece for what APFS snapshots can do. Makes me wonder either Apple really doesn't care about the Mac and isn't putting in the development effort, or they don't care about local backups (instead going all in with iCloud in the future). Either one is not good.

I just....don't know how you can possibly come to that conclusion off the very first beta after everything in the keynote...

 

[JCsHands2]

Not sure if this is a little thing, but I have almost 14 GBs of more space after updating to 10.13.

 

[v1597psh]

Native FLAC format support in Quicklook and QuickTime

 

[redheeler]

Not sure if this is a little thing, but I have almost 14 GBs of more space after updating to 10.13.

I had even more space free up going from El Capitan to Sierra, and that obviously had nothing to do with Apple File System. Simply whatever cache files are cleaned out during the update.

 

[Brad9893]

Each and every time I've upgraded macOS over the years, no matter the version, I end up regaining a LOT of space (sometimes around 25-30GB) after the upgrade was complete. When you upgrade, it purges cache files, the hibernation file, Time Machine mobile backups, as well as other old files that have accumulated and aren't needed, etc. As the year progresses, my drive slowly files back up and I lose that space again. By the time fall rolls around and Apple releases a new macOS, I am right back to where I started.

I have an Early 2011 MBP that came with Snow Leopard (currently running Sierra) and has never had a clean installation, so this pattern is pretty regular.

I don't think that this is because of APFS.

 

[KALLT]

Not sure if this is a little thing, but I have almost 14 GBs of more space after updating to 10.13.

Did you upgrade from case-insensitive HFS+ to a case-sensitive APFS?

I am dying to know whether Apple chooses case-sensitivity over case-insensitivity now.

 

[redheeler]

Did you upgrade from case-insensitive HFS+ to a case-sensitive APFS?

I am dying to know whether Apple chooses case-sensitivity over case-insensitivity now.

Case-insensitive HFS+ to case-insensitive APFS for me. No change as to which is preferred.

 

[hsotnicam8002]

Mmm, Safari feels snappier.

Not to start up it doesn't.

 

[insomniac86]

Is it possible to control your HomeKit accessories via Siri from macOs420Sierra?

Apparently no

I hope it comes, but I don't think it will.

 

[Cougarcat]

Anyone put this on a TouchBar Mac yet? Any new functionality?

This surprises me. A new FS with snapshot supports should allow for a brand new, much faster Time Machine routine. No more symlinks, just snapshots. But it seems Apple hasn't touched TimeMachine with High Sierra, even to the point it doesn't even support APFS. This could have/should have been the showpiece for what APFS snapshots can do. Makes me wonder either Apple really doesn't care about the Mac and isn't putting in the development effort, or they don't care about local backups (instead going all in with iCloud in the future). Either one is not good.

It was a disappointment, but I'm inclined to believe it's just not ready yet. Backup utilities need to be rock solid, and they've extolled the backup benefits in their WWDC video on APFS last year. If 10.14 rolls around without the features, then we can worry.

 

[xeilon]

I assume there's still no support for VP9, even on supported hardware? Not having 4K videos in YouTube sucks...

 

[JCsHands2]

Did you upgrade from case-insensitive HFS+ to a case-sensitive APFS?

I am dying to know whether Apple chooses case-sensitivity over case-insensitivity now.

I didn't get to choose. The only option was "Would you like to update to AFPS?"

 

[plexdk]

Actually I think this is our Snow leopard of Sierra.. Next year will be a feature release, and not a 'tock' release.

Its a rather good thing, that they take their time to optimize, and make sure the foundation is build correctly, before building something big on a unstable and slow OS. Sierra hasn't been so bad though, imho.

 

[xflashx]

Well, if they want High Sierra to be a Snow Leopard, they have a long way to go. So much is really broken right now, I know this is a beta but it's one of the worst first betas I've ever seen. It takes forever to boot, it takes forever to load the desktop completely, I cannot disable local snapshots and the samba connection to my shares is totally messed up and extremely slow, as the entire OS is right now. I really hope that we'll see major improvements in the next few updates.

 

[Cougarcat]

Well, if they want High Sierra to be a Snow Leopard, they have a long way to go. So much is really broken right now, I know this is a beta but it's one of the worst first betas I've ever seen. It takes forever to boot, it takes forever to load the desktop completely, I cannot disable local snapshots and the samba connection to my shares is totally messed up and extremely slow, as the entire OS is right now. I really hope that we'll see major improvements in the next few updates.

It's also the first macOS in 20 years to use a new file system...it's the first beta I have no plan on installing, and may even wait til 13.1, since the feature set is so light anyway.

 

[plexdk]

Well, if they want High Sierra to be a Snow Leopard, they have a long way to go. So much is really broken right now, I know this is a beta but it's one of the worst first betas I've ever seen. It takes forever to boot, it takes forever to load the desktop completely, I cannot disable local snapshots and the samba connection to my shares is totally messed up and extremely slow, as the entire OS is right now. I really hope that we'll see major improvements in the next few updates.

This is not even a beta - calm down Besides, a new filesystem is a pretty big thing. Microsoft tried it, and gave up (WinFS)..

 

[DaveWotzit]

Hay beta testers has Apple brought iMessage in line with iOS? With Animated emojis, screen affects and GIFs? I saw no mention of it in the presentation so . . . Does anybody know?

 

[xflashx]

This is not even a beta - calm down Besides, a new filesystem is a pretty bit thing. Microsoft tried it, and gave up (WinFS)..

Well, I’m not upset - it’s still a beta.

Okay maybe I’m a bit disappointed because I think MacOS is not getting the attention it deserves from Apple (but that’s another topic).

 

[Senseotech]

Hay beta testers has Apple brought iMessage in line with iOS? With Animated emojis, screen affects and GIFs? I saw no mention of it in the presentation so . . . Does anybody know?

Looks like nothing new there; none of the sticker/app stuff is showing in Message on 10.13 for me.

 

[Cougarcat]

Hay beta testers has Apple brought iMessage in line with iOS? With Animated emojis, screen affects and GIFs? I saw no mention of it in the presentation so . . . Does anybody know?

From what I understand those iMessage features use UIKit on iOS, which isn't on the Mac yet. There's this, though. But yeah, I thought for sure they'd address this one this year.

 

[macintoshmac]

Well, I’m not upset - it’s still a beta.

Okay maybe I’m a bit disappointed because I think MacOS is not getting the attention it deserves from Apple (but that’s another topic).

It is NOT a beta. It is a preview version. A beta version is very, very refined, in comparison.

 

[Jaw3000]

I cannot disable local snapshots

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the local APFS snapshots are doing? Are they enabling any new features? Backups/Versioning? If not, than I wonder what the point is.

 

[kristoffer4]

There is now an option in the Apple menu to lock the screen.
View attachment 702447

How is this different from locking the mac in stand by?

 

[plexdk]

Very easy. The whole keynote was very underwhelming for the Mac. The whole platform has been asleep for years now. Meanwhile, Microsoft has come out with Windows 10 and is actively focusing on it. I don't necessarily like Win10, but at least it's a major effort. I remember back a few years ago, and the Mac platform would receive quite a few new features that made using it better each OS update. Each update was big. It's been well over 5+ years since an update like that now. What Apple has given are relatively small incremental revisions, more akin to what MS is delivering with their twice a year "creator" updates - yet MS is doing it twice a year to Apple's once a year. Where is Apple's answer to Win10? I never use Siri (and no 3rd-party app support on Mac). Mac Messages doesn't support many of the features of the iOS version. There are still no HomeKit or News apps for Mac. No ApplePay peer-to-peer on Mac. The Mac App Store has been languishing for years. Even if Apple isn't going to add new Mac-only features, I don't understand why they don't bring the apps inline with what's available on iOS. Preferably though, I'd like to see new Mac-specific enhancements. I'm glad to see eGPU support, but that won't mean a lot for Mac gaming without updated OpenGL or Vulkan support. It will be hard to port cross-platform games to Metal, especially when there just isn't a huge market. Metal 2 is good, but I would have preferred to see Vulkan support. I personally believe VR is a fad and won't be the future. This is all marketing and has little practicality. H.265 is good, but is going to take years to mainstream & really requires new equipment. What else is there for Mac? Safari has auto-play blocking and Photos is a bit better. I thought Sierra was greatly underwhelming last year, but I kind of convinced myself that Apple must be working on something truly substantial for the Mac that we'd see this year. That didn't happen. Actually, in hind sight, Sierra had many more new features than High Sierra does (iOS 10 did too compared to iOS 11). I think if 2018 comes around and there isn't a substantial MacOS update with Mac-specific enhancements, than everyone really needs worry.

I'm a big user of ZFS and snapshots on Linux. It's great. Apple finally has a modern file system with modern features like snapshots, so I don't understand why Apple is not taking advantage of it throughout the OS in a way that shows it off. Like TimeMachine snapshots. Built-in file versioning across the OS. A new OS update routine, with background in-place updates using snapshots (on iOS too). Something. That's why I said it seems like Apple just isn't putting in the effort to truly take advantage of the new underlying technical tools they have on the Mac, which I find disappointing. Or, they don't want to put in the effort on local file storage and backup when they would prefer everything move to iCloud.
[doublepost=1496777911][/doublepost]
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the local APFS snapshots are doing? Are they enabling any new features? Backups/Versioning? If not, than I wonder what the point is.

You can't expect major features every year. ita a good thing they don't go all Vista, but now take their time to optimize in the typical tick-tock way..

 

[ErikGrim]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the local APFS snapshots are doing? Are they enabling any new features? Backups/Versioning? If not, than I wonder what the point is.

Local TimeMachine is now instant and reliable. I deleted the installer, and without backing up to my Time Capsule I was able to restore it.

I can't be certain that this is APFS, but I've never seen this working before.