Can I resize an APFS partition?

The original drive will have old no longer needed application files which take up space
Old cache files and system references that are no longer needed.
Risk if malware & viruses being copied over to the new drive

In addition, cloning apps mess up the recovery partition, so while it looks like the system is working the recovery partition is not workable!

I don’t recommend using Windows tools on Mac drives as unlike Windows systems Apple uses a GUID partition map which you can’t create properly within Windows natively and the boot sector is also unique in Mac’s.

What was possible with HFS+ file systems is not going to work with APFS which adds more to the mess! The structure of a bootable APFS drive has changed quite a lot! Now you have a EFI and a partition as well as your APFS partition. In addition the structure within the APFS partition has containers which holds different elements besides the raw data (Apps & users data).

So getting to your question

Don’t use Windows to modify the Mac drive even with a Mac compatible utility (HFS+) as it will mess up the newer APFS structures!
Don’t use cloning apps! Use the Apple tools Disk Utility and Migration Assistant, they are the better tools!
Failure to run the OS installer directly on the given system can also fail to install the needed EFI firmware and its support files for the given macOS version the system is running.

So setup a USB thumb drive with the macOS you need for the given system. I strongly recommend sticking with Sierra as the highest version for SATA based systems as APFS is very chatty and as SATA only has two buffers it tends to get I/O bogged unlike PCIe/NVMe blade drives which have deeper buffers (using HFS+). If you are going with APFS then you want to to go to Mojave (if the system will support it) High Sierra is too buggy!

Use the needed installer to boot up your system with the new drive present. Used Disk Utility to format and configure the drive partition and run the OS installer. At the end of the process you’ll be asked if you have a TimeMachine backup or want to migrate your stuff from your old system. The Migration Assistant too will also access attached drives or network volumes! Make sure to check off all of the options Users, Apps & Data!

Using this method you won’t need to worry about the size differences like you do with a cloning tool and you’ll get 100% every thing thats needed!

One Last Thing…

Make sure you have 1/4 of the SSD drive free as your system needs the free space on the boot drive!

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I can confirm cloning works, I have used both Macrium and Clonezilla to clone OS-X drives. They have booted fine when put back in the apple device. There is an issue if cloning to a different size drive though. Hence the issue I’m having now.

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 750g jhfs+ Extra 250g Would this as an example shrink the partition by 250gb?

1. Aug 2019 von stuart

Have since cloned the drive as a back up image to test this theory and no GUI partition tool will allow modification to the partition.

So I’m using one of the guides to do it via the terminal instead.

1. Aug 2019 von stuart

@chuxsta - You can use Disk Utility to re-size the drive with either HFS+ or APFS! But that's not cloning! Thats just re-sizing!

So you could resize the HDD so the partition is made smaller but I still don't recommend using any cloning app.

We've seen a few failures here over the years and some folks have only discovered the issue later when they needed to recover the OS or try to do a OS upgrade (as well as me directly).

Besides, using free tools Apple supplies is still cheaper! And using off the web free tools might not be clean from viruses or malware! Too risky in my mind.

1. Aug 2019 von Dan

sat and read the last bit of your answer properly and then it suddenly hit me.. i even cursed myself because of it..

just do a clean install on the new drive and as you said use the migrate data after..

i help run a very busy computer repair workshop and often prove how poor us males are at multitasking.. had that much going on i completely forgot this method.. :)

thank you so much for taking the time to type up such a lengthy reply.

if there was an emoji for smacking myself in the face with a giant shovel insert it here >>>

1. Aug 2019 von stuart

@chuxsta - Thats OK, I've even stepped in it a few times too ;-}

Don't forget the score the answer - Happy it all worked out.

1. Aug 2019 von Dan

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I can confirm cloning works, I have used both Macrium and Clonezilla to clone OS-X drives. They have booted fine when put back in the apple device. There is an issue if cloning to a different size drive though. Hence the issue I’m having now.

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 750g jhfs+ Extra 250g Would this as an example shrink the partition by 250gb? — stuart
Have since cloned the drive as a back up image to test this theory and no GUI partition tool will allow modification to the partition.

So I’m using one of the guides to do it via the terminal instead. — stuart
@chuxsta - You can use Disk Utility to re-size the drive with either HFS+ or APFS! But that's not cloning! Thats just re-sizing!

So you could resize the HDD so the partition is made smaller but I still don't recommend using any cloning app.

We've seen a few failures here over the years and some folks have only discovered the issue later when they needed to recover the OS or try to do a OS upgrade (as well as me directly).

Besides, using free tools Apple supplies is still cheaper! And using off the web free tools might not be clean from viruses or malware! Too risky in my mind. — Dan
sat and read the last bit of your answer properly and then it suddenly hit me.. i even cursed myself because of it..

just do a clean install on the new drive and as you said use the migrate data after..

i help run a very busy computer repair workshop and often prove how poor us males are at multitasking.. had that much going on i completely forgot this method.. :)

thank you so much for taking the time to type up such a lengthy reply.

if there was an emoji for smacking myself in the face with a giant shovel insert it here >>> — stuart
@chuxsta - Thats OK, I've even stepped in it a few times too ;-}

Don't forget the score the answer - Happy it all worked out. — Dan

Mac

Can I resize an APFS partition?

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