Apple File System was announced at [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Apple Worldwide Developers Conference|developersdevelopers’ conference]] (WWDC) in June 2016 as a replacement for [[HFS Plus|HFS+]], which had been in use since 1998.<ref name="9to5Mac APFS announced">{{cite web |first=Seth |last=Weintraub |title=Apple File System (APFS) announced for 2017, scales 'from Apple Watch to Mac Pro' and focuses on encryption |url=https://9to5mac.com/2016/06/13/apple-file-system-apfs/ |website=9to5Mac |date=June 13, 2016 |access-date=March 27, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328195315/https://9to5mac.com/2016/06/13/apple-file-system-apfs/ |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="Ars APFS spotted">{{cite web |first=Lee |last=Hutchinson |title=New file system spotted in macOS Sierra [Updated] |url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/06/new-apfs-file-system-spotted-in-new-version-of-macos/ |website=[[Ars Technica]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast]] |date=June 13, 2016 |access-date=March 27, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328195529/https://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/06/new-apfs-file-system-spotted-in-new-version-of-macos/ |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> APFS was released for [[64-bit]] [[iOS]] devices on March 27, 2017, with the release of iOS 10.3, and for macOS devices on September 25, 2017, with the release of [[MacOS High Sierra|macOS 10.13]].<ref name="macrumors-ios10_3">{{cite web |first=Juli |last=Clover |title=Apple Releases iOS 10.3 With Find My AirPods, APFS, App Store Review Tweaks and More |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/27/apple-releases-ios-10-3/ |website=[[MacRumors]] |date=March 27, 2017 |access-date=March 27, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327194444/https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/27/apple-releases-ios-10-3/ |archive-date=March 27, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="The Verge update today">{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Warren |title=Apple is upgrading millions of iOS devices to a new modern file system today |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15076244/apple-file-system-apfs-ios-10-3-features |website=[[The Verge]] |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |date=March 27, 2017 |access-date=March 27, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327184802/http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15076244/apple-file-system-apfs-ios-10-3-features |archive-date=March 27, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Apple released a partial specification for APFS in September 2018 which supported read-only access to Apple File Systems on unencrypted, non-Fusion storage devices. The specification for software encryption was documented later.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apple File System Reference |url=https://developer.apple.com/support/downloads/Apple-File-System-Reference.pdf |publisher=Apple Developer}}</ref>
