The AFP file archiving protocol that Apple has relied on for a long time is coming to an end. Currently in the macOS 27 developer preview version, Apple has removed the system's built-in AFP client support, which means that this proprietary protocol that has been more than 40 years old will completely exit the stage in the Apple ecosystem. Apple recommends that users adopt modern file sharing protocols such as SMB3.
The origin and development history of AFP:
AFP originally dates back to 1988, when Apple designed a native file sharing protocol for Macintosh to provide users with seamless peer-to-peer file services. The origin of AFP is the Apple Share and Apple Talk network protocols. After that, Apple actively developed and updated the AFP protocol, making it an indispensable proprietary protocol in the Apple ecosystem.
By 2001, Mac OS X Server 10.0.3 Cheetah introduced AFP version 3.0, and AFP became the core file service protocol of early Mac OS X. In 2012, Apple released AFP version 3.4, which supported Unicode file names, POSIX and ACL permissions, resource forking, extended attributes, and advanced file locking. However, this was also the last major update provided by Apple for AFP.
Since 2013, Apple has directly set the SMB protocol as the default file sharing protocol of the system. This is the starting point of the decline of the AFP protocol. The SMB protocol is an industry standard protocol developed by Microsoft and has more advantages in cross-platform compatibility. After Apple introduced the APFS file system in 2017, AFP no longer natively supported the new file system. At that time, Time Machine mainly maintained compatibility temporarily through sparse bundles.
When Apple released macOS 11 Big Sur in 2020, Apple completely removed the AFP Server function, and users could no longer share AFP services from the Mac host. Finally, in May 2025, Apple announced that the AFP client was officially deprecated, and Apple emphasized that it would completely remove the AFP client in future macOS releases.
If you are too lazy to maintain it, why not turn to industry standard SMB3:
It is completely understandable for Apple to give up AFP. This old protocol is difficult to keep up with modern security standards and is very troublesome to maintain. The SMB protocol has become the de facto universal sharing protocol, which is more advantageous in a mixed environment of Windows, Linux, and Mac. The SMB3 protocol is already highly mature, so there is really no need for Apple to retain AFP.
Apple's current recommendation is that users use the more secure SMB3 protocol, which has very good compatibility and platform support. For example, modern NAS basically supports the SMB3 protocol, and users can set the Time Machine storage location to the shared storage area of the NAS, without turning on AFP-related functions.