Time Machine will no longer support Time Capsule formatted with AFP Apple Filing Protocol

AirPort Extreme Base Station or Time Capsule

These solutions are no longer recommended, because they use Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), which won't be supported in a future version of macOS.

Will macOS future versions allow me to format my Time Capsule disk on my WiFi network using one of the new file formats or protocols the new versions will support? If not, why not? Isn't a disk just a disk and can Apple simply not tell me my old disk format is no longer supported and then display the new formatting options and allow me to select one so my old disk device will be formatted with the new protocol? And then Apple could simply allow me to backup my MacBook just like I have always backed it up, using Time Machine, which I love and my Time Capsule WiFi router and backup system that are all rolled into one, simple and elegant and easy for customers like me to use like Apple is supposed to be. Am I missing something here?

Posted on Aug 9, 2025 10:38 AM

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Bob Timmons

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Posted on Aug 9, 2025 11:09 AM

Will macOS future versions allow me to format my Time Capsule disk on my WiFi network using one of the new file formats or protocols the new versions will support?

If not, why not?

Apple decision to no longer support Time Machine backups over a "network" with future Mac operating systems.

Isn't a disk just a disk and can Apple simply not tell me my old disk format is no longer supported and then display the new formatting options and allow me to select one so my old disk device will be formatted with the new protocol?

No. The Time Capsule disk and any disks attached to an AirPort Extreme can only be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).....aka HFS+ for Time Machine backups. The same would be true if you were backing up to a Network Attached Storage device (NAS).

And then Apple could simply allow me to backup my MacBook just like I have always backed it up, using Time Machine, which I love and my Time Capsule WiFi router and backup system that are all rolled into one, simple and elegant and easy for customers like me to use like Apple is supposed to be. Am I missing something here?

We just explained why backups to a Time Capsule using future operating systems will not be supported.

When Apple makes things "official", the only way that you will be able to back up your Mac(s) using Time Machine will require that the backup disk be attached directly to your Mac. When you back up this way, the disk will be formatted in APFS, which is the same format that your Mac's internal drive is using.

The Time Capsule disk cannot be formatted in APFS. Even it could.....(it can't).....backups would not be supported over a network.

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52 replies

Sep 7, 2025 7:05 PM in response to Bill3Apple

Unfortunately, your ASUS router's USB port will not support a hard drive that is formatted in the APFS format that Time Machine will want to use with future Mac operating systems, so most likely a no go on that idea.

Think NAS with Time Machine support.

We'll know more when the next Mac operating system is introduced. Too many unknowns at this time.

Sep 8, 2025 12:52 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thanks MrHoffman! I stand corrected.

You are too kind. That was not a typo, but a blind spot.

I missed the distinction between SMB 3.0 and Samba, and your additional linked information was very helpful for me (and other Readers) to see the distinction.

Using your example, I pulled up the Wikipedia article on AFP.

WOW, what remarkable word-salad including AppleTalk, Apple File Protocol. Apple File System and acronyms and similar terms. No wonder there is some confusion.

Aug 21, 2025 6:42 AM in response to ideoplex

Edit......That would work and allow Time Machine to keep backing up to the Time Capsule.

Should have said "should work"......because I have not yet tested this, but I would expect it to work.

Aug 23, 2025 5:43 AM in response to MrHoffman

This is not helpful.

Sep 8, 2025 1:25 AM in response to AppleCustomer9

Would the Ubiquiti UNAS Pro NAS support SMB v3 and Time Machine?

https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-integrations/products/unas-pro

ideoplex

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Sep 8, 2025 8:29 AM in response to Michael9009

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/17299776030999-macOS-Time-Machine-Backups-on-UNAS

Aug 9, 2025 8:28 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Servant of Cats wrote:

It looks as though Time Machine can now do network backups using the (Windows) SMB file sharing protocol.

That’s been the case for a while now. (Apparently since 10.15, if not earlier.).

Apple decided SMB had won, and started retiring AFP.

And here we are.

Although the Time Capsule supports SMB v1, I suspect that will not be good enough to allow continued Time Machine use once Apple pulls the plug on the deprecated Apple Filing Protocol. You would need a newer NAS, running a current version of SMB, that supports the current version of Time Machine.

SMBv1 is best gone everywhere, given its security vulnerabilities.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/filecab/stop-using-smb1/425858

Ned Pyle, formerly a Microsoft Principal Program Manager for various Windows-related functions including SMB, spent a chunk of his Microsoft career working to end SMBv1, due to its flaws. SMBv1 is bad.

Time Machine will no longer support Time Capsule formatted with AFP Apple Filing Protocol