AFP

The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), formerly AppleTalk Filing Protocol, is a proprietary network protocol, and part of the Apple File Service (AFS), that offers file services for macOS and the classic Mac OS. In Mac OS 9 and earlier, AFP was the primary protocol for file services. The protocol was deprecated starting in OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and AFP Server support was removed in macOS 11 Big Sur. In macOS 10.x, AFP is one of several file services supported, with others including Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and WebDAV. AFP currently supports Unicode file names, POSIX and access control list permissions, resource forks, named extended attributes, and advanced file locking.

Compatibility

AFP versions 3.0 and greater rely exclusively on TCP/IP (port 548) for establishing communication, supporting AppleTalk only as a service discoveryprotocol. The AFP 2.x family supports both TCP/IP (using Data Stream Interface) and AppleTalk for communication and service discovery. Many third-party AFP implementations use AFP 2.x, thereby supporting AppleTalk as a connection method. Still earlier versions rely exclusively on AppleTalk. For this reason, some older literature refers to AFP as "AppleTalk Filing Protocol". Other literature may refer to AFP as "AppleShare", the name of the Mac OS 9 (and earlier) AFP client.

Notable current compatibility topics are:

  1. Mac OS X v10.4 and later eliminates support for AFP servers that rely solely on AppleTalk for communication.

  2. Computers using classic Mac OS can connect to AFP 3.x servers, with some limitations. For example, the maximum file size in Mac OS 8 is 2 gigabytes. Typically, Mac OS 9.1 or later is recommended for connecting to AFP 3.x servers; for versions of original Mac OS prior to 9.1, installation of the AppleShare client 3.8.8 is required.

  3. AFP 3.0 and later is required for network home directories, since Mac OS X requires POSIX permissions on user home directories. Single sign-on using Kerberos requires AFP 3.1.

  4. APFS: AFP is incompatible with sharing of APFS volumes but is still usable as a Time Machine destination in High Sierra.

History

Early implementations of AFP server software were available in Mac OS starting with System 6, in AppleShare and AppleShare IP, and in early "1.x" releases of Mac OS X Server. In client operating systems, AFP was called "Personal File Sharing", and supported up to ten simultaneous connections. These AFP implementations relied on version 1.x or 2.x of the protocol. AppleShare IP 5.x, 6.x, and the "1.x" releases of Mac OS X Server introduced AFP version 2.2. This was the first version to offer transport connections using TCP/IP as well as AppleTalk. It also increased the maximum share point size from four gigabytes to two terabytes,[2] although the maximum file size that could be stored remained at two gigabytes due to limitations in the original Mac OS.

Changes made in AFP since version 3.0 represent major advances in the protocol, introducing features designed specifically for Mac OS X clients.

However, like the AppleShare client in original Mac OS, the AFP client in Mac OS X continued to support type and creator codes, along with filename extensions.

AFP Version Differences

AFP 2.0

This version of the protocol is the version that was initially documented in Inside AppleTalk. The contents of Inside AppleTalk are now split between this document and Apple Filing Protocol Reference.

AFP 2.1

This version was a significant upgrade to accommodate System 7.0.

AFP 2.2

  • Added support for AFP over TCP.

AFP 3.0

Introduced in OS X v.10.0 and also used in v.10.1, AFP 3.0 includes major changes to support OS X.

AFP 3.1

Introduced in OS X v10.2, AFP 3.1 was a relatively minor release to tidy up some nagging OS X issues.

AFP 3.1+

Introduced in OS X v.10.3, AFP 3.1+ added additional reconnection functionality and additional Kerberos support.

AFP 3.2

Introduced in OS X v10.4, AFP 3.2 added support for ACLs and extended attributes.

AFP 3.2+

Introduced in OS X v10.5, AFP 3.2+ added better synchronization support for Time Machine.

AFP 3.3

Introduced in OS X v10.6. Mandates support for the AFP replay cache (described in AFP Replay Cache).

AFP 3.4

Introduced in OS X v10.8.

Ephemeral

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite auto-switch to SMB issue on network connection to macOS 12 Monterey.

SSD

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuitassemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is also sometimes called a semiconductor storage device, a solid-state device or a solid-state disk, even though SSDs lack the physical spinning disks and movable read–write heads used in hard disk drives (HDDs) and floppy disks.

Apple Silicon

Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, and of products such as AirPods, HomePod and its successor HomePod Mini, iPod Touch, and AirTag.

Apple announced its plan to switch Mac computers from Intel processors to Apple silicon at WWDC 2020 on June 22, 2020. The first Macs built with the Apple M1 processor were unveiled on November 10, 2020. In early 2022, most Mac models were built with Apple silicon; exceptions included the Core i5/i7 Mac Mini and the Mac Pro

Mac computers with Apple siliconHT211814

Starting with certain models introduced in late 2020, Apple began the transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon in Mac computers.

Mac computers with Apple silicon:

On Mac computers with Apple silicon, About This Mac shows an item labeled Chip, followed by the name of the chip:


To open About This Mac, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac.

On Mac computers with an Intel processor, About This Mac shows an item labeled Processor, followed by the name of an Intel processor. A Mac with an Intel processor is also known as an Intel-based Mac.

naked domain

Removing or adding “www” as the first domain label. Some websites operate identically in two Internet domains: one whose least significant label is “www” and another whose name is the result of omitting the least significant label from the name of the first, the latter being known as a naked domain. For example, http://www.example.com/ and http://example.com/ may access the same website. Many websites redirect the user from the www to the non-www address or vice versa. A normalizer may determine if one of these URIs redirects to the other and normalize all URIs appropriately. Example:

http://www.example.com/ → http://example.com/

Modern Apple Device Battery Performance Recommendations

Avoid extreme ambient temperatures.

Your device is designed to perform well in a wide range of ambient temperatures, with 62° to 72° F (16° to 22° C) as the ideal comfort zone. It’s especially important to avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 95° F (35° C), which can permanently damage battery capacity. That is, your battery won’t power your device as long on a given charge. Charging the device in high ambient temperatures can damage it further. Software may limit charging above 80% when the recommended battery temperatures are exceeded. Even storing a battery in a hot environment can damage it irreversibly. When using your device in a very cold environment, you may notice a decrease in battery life, but this condition is temporary. Once the battery’s temperature returns to its normal operating range, its performance will return to normal as well.

iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple Watch Comfort Zone

iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple Watch work best at 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C) ambient temperatures. Storage temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C).

MacBook Comfort Zone

MacBook works best at 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C) ambient temperatures. Storage temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C).

Remove certain cases during charging.

Charging your device when it’s inside certain styles of cases may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity. If you notice that your device gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first. For Apple Watch Edition models, make sure the cover of the magnetic charging case is off.

Store it half-charged when you store it long term.

If you want to store your device long term, two key factors will affect the overall health of your battery: the environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage. Therefore, we recommend the following:

  • Do not fully charge or fully discharge your device’s battery — charge it to around 50%. If you store a device when its battery is fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life.

  • Power down the device to avoid additional battery use.

  • Place your device in a cool, moisture-free environment that’s less than 90° F (32° C).

  • If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months.

Depending on how long you store your device, it may be in a low-battery state when you remove it from long-term storage. After it’s removed from storage, it may require 20 minutes of charging with the original adapter before you can use it.

Plug in and power on your computer to charge your device.

Make sure your computer is plugged in and powered on when you’re using it to charge your iOS device via USB. If your device is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, your device’s battery may drain. Note that iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS cannot be charged with a FireWire power adapter or FireWire-based car charger.