macOS Tahoe brings a new disk image format
a year ago
- #macOS
- #disk-image
- #performance
- ASIF is a new disk image format in macOS 26 Tahoe offering near-native speeds.
- ASIF disk images can be created using Disk Utility or the diskutil command tool.
- ASIF images are sparse files in APFS, with sizes dependent on stored data.
- Performance tests show ASIF achieves 5.8-6.6 GB/s read/write speeds (unencrypted).
- ASIF is recommended over RAW/UDRW for VM backing stores due to better efficiency.
- ASIF is faster than UDRW, UDSP, and sparse bundles, using a single file.
- ASIF support in macOS Sequoia 15.5 exists but lacks creation tools.
- Virtualizers should adopt ASIF for better performance in Tahoe.
- DropDMG is expected to support ASIF disk images soon.