Apple is ending support for encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drives starting with macOS 28. This change affects users who utilize older encryption methods on their drives, though unencrypted HFS+ volumes will continue to function for the time being.

Users with affected drives need to take action before macOS 28's release next year. Apple's support pages now warn users to check their drive formats and encryption status. The company has been signaling this shift since macOS 26. To identify an at-risk drive, users can check Disk Utility: if both "Mac OS Extended" and "Encrypted" are listed for a volume, it is impacted.

Apple offers two primary solutions: reformatting the drive to APFS or APFS (Encrypted), which erases all data, or decrypting the drive to convert it to non-encrypted HFS+ and then to APFS. The latter method preserves data but is not compatible with encrypted Time Machine backup disks. This move continues Apple's transition away from HFS+ towards the more modern APFS file system, first introduced in 2016.