I was troubleshooting backups using TM from several Apple laptops on my LAN to a Synology NAS last year and I filed a help ticket to figure it out. The result was that SMB is “supposed” to work in MacOS and AFP deprecated. I kept having corrupted TM backups and when I switched to AFP TM just worked. After a few weeks, I started doing bootable backups using CCC and started to encounter the same issues. Doing a CCC image backup to the NAS using SMB kept having problems, switch to AFP just works. The CCC help feedback was a bit more comprehensive. The tech said that I needed to change the SMB support level on the NAS from 1-3 to 3 only unless I had a specific need to support older SMB levels. After I made this change SMB has yet to fail and is considerably faster than AFP on my network. I don’t have any definitive data (other than noted below) but the tech suggested that somehow MacOS was defaulting to an older SMB protocol (because the device reported support for it and went with the lowest version) but this change worked for me. Both AFP and SMB work perfectly for TM and CCC. Another note: I turned SMB support back on for 1-3 on the NAS and on one of my Linux machines just did a generic SMB connection and was able to confirm it connected at 1 by default. If I specified the version on the command it also connected at 3. This at a basic level seems to support the CCC Tech’s assertion but I haven’t done more to test it than this. Answer from barddzen on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/synology › synology and mac time machine, smb or afp?
r/synology on Reddit: Synology and Mac Time Machine, SMB or AFP?
February 19, 2019 -
So, I’ve done a lot of research on this subject and the consensus seems that SMB should work, and is the standard Apple plans to use moving forward as AFP is deprecated. However, whenever I try to configure the backup to use SMB instead of AFP, it fails. Something about how it does not have the appropriate resources or something. Has anyone had any luck getting a Mac to backup using Time Machine over SMB?
UPDATE: I used ssh to edit /etc/samba/smb.conf on the Synology to allow only SMB3 which completely broke everything. The Mac was no longer able to connect to the server at all and kept saying “urls with type “smb:” are not allowed”
After changing it back to support smb 2-3 the Mac is now able to connect and mount shares again. I suspect the inability to connect via SMB-3 exclusively may be the heart of the issue, HOWEVER, here’s what weird: When I use “smbutil statshares-a” in Mac terminal, I get a result that suggests the share is in fact mounted via SMB 3. Screenshot below
Screenshot of current smb statshares info
Top answer 1 of 6
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I was troubleshooting backups using TM from several Apple laptops on my LAN to a Synology NAS last year and I filed a help ticket to figure it out. The result was that SMB is “supposed” to work in MacOS and AFP deprecated. I kept having corrupted TM backups and when I switched to AFP TM just worked. After a few weeks, I started doing bootable backups using CCC and started to encounter the same issues. Doing a CCC image backup to the NAS using SMB kept having problems, switch to AFP just works. The CCC help feedback was a bit more comprehensive. The tech said that I needed to change the SMB support level on the NAS from 1-3 to 3 only unless I had a specific need to support older SMB levels. After I made this change SMB has yet to fail and is considerably faster than AFP on my network. I don’t have any definitive data (other than noted below) but the tech suggested that somehow MacOS was defaulting to an older SMB protocol (because the device reported support for it and went with the lowest version) but this change worked for me. Both AFP and SMB work perfectly for TM and CCC. Another note: I turned SMB support back on for 1-3 on the NAS and on one of my Linux machines just did a generic SMB connection and was able to confirm it connected at 1 by default. If I specified the version on the command it also connected at 3. This at a basic level seems to support the CCC Tech’s assertion but I haven’t done more to test it than this.
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SMB is basically broken on the Mac. AFP is great
Reddit
reddit.com › r/synology › switching from afp to smb for time machine on synology router
r/synology on Reddit: Switching from AFP to SMB for Time Machine on Synology Router
August 9, 2025 -
Hello everyone,
I have been using a Synology router with an external hard disk to back up my Mac via the AFP protocol. However, in the future, macOS will no longer support AFP network disks for Time Machine backups.
I have enabled the SMB protocol on a Windows file server, and I can access it via smb://<my-ip>/. However, I can’t use that to back up my macOS system.
I’ve done a lot of Google searches, and while there’s plenty of information online about Synology NAS, there’s not much about Synology routers. I’m hoping there are people here who know how to back up via the SMB protocol on a Synology router.
Thank you very much for reading and answering.
Top answer 1 of 3
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I switched over not long after Apple started recommending using SMB for network access and Time Machine. It’s pretty straightforward. You’ve got the make sure your Synology is advertising your backup volume as a Time Machine backup via SMB over Bonjour. Then remove the existing AFP backup destination from Time Machine and readd it as an SMB one. You probably want to disable AFP on your NAS before you readd it just to make sure it doesn’t add it via AFP again.
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Check the Synology Knowledge Base, just follow the advise you find there. I did it, works just fine.
Videos
Apple Support
support.apple.com › guide › mac-help › types-of-disks-you-can-use-with-time-machine-mh15139 › mac
Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support
You can use Time Machine with an AirPort Time Capsule, with a network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over Server Message Block (SMB) or Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), or with an external storage device connected directly to your Mac (such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive).
Vdaluz
vdaluz.com › blog › afs-smb-time-machine-backup-deprecation
AFS and SMB: Why Apple's Time Capsule Era Is Ending - Victor Da Luz | Victor Da Luz
August 16, 2025 - Connect a USB or Thunderbolt drive directly to your Mac, and Time Machine works exactly like it always has. No network complexity, no compatibility issues. I’ve used this external drive as a more affordable option, and it works well for direct backups. NAS devices work well with SMB.
The Eclectic Light Company
eclecticlight.co › 2021 › 10 › 11 › backing-up-to-network-storage-in-big-sur-and-beyond
Backing up to network storage in Big Sur and beyond – The Eclectic Light Company
October 10, 2021 - If the active connection is AFP and you want to use SMB, it is possible to remove the active share, and then select the SMB connection of the same share. Time Machine will discover the existing backup and ask if it should continue to use it ...
Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 7875596
Time Machine via SMB vs AFP on Synology's… - Apple Community
December 27, 2017 - So the current situation is that Time Machine over AFP to a NAS is in general possible and in many peoples experience 'works'. Time Machine over SMB to a NAS however is an unknown entity and very likely to still have issues and I would therefore even myself not yet rely on it.
SNBForums
snbforums.com › wi-fi networking › asus wi-fi › asuswrt-merlin
Time machine support when AFP is removed from macOS? | SNBForums
May 14, 2025 - Currently Time Machine support works only over AFP as Time Machine does not see SMB shares. Is there a plan to support Time Machine over SMB and if, hopefully so, when is it scheduled for...
Hacker News
news.ycombinator.com › item
Building NAS with ZFS, AFP/Samba for Time Machine (2021) | Hacker News
December 3, 2022 - It used to be that after a while (varies from a couple of weeks to months) Time Machine would complain that the spare disk image on the NAS was corrupted and you'd have to start from scratch, which completely defeats the purpose of backup · I would assume that'd work fine, because I run my ...
The Eclectic Light Company
eclecticlight.co › 2019 › 12 › 09 › can-you-still-use-afp-sharing
Can you still use AFP sharing? – The Eclectic Light Company
December 9, 2019 - When you now try to connect to that Mac, SMB won’t be used, but AFP will. Because AFP doesn’t work with APFS volumes, those don’t appear in the list of those available on the server. If you’ve got your Time Machine backup connected to the server, or another hard drive using HFS+, that should still appear, though.
Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 255284350
Time Machine via SMB vs AFP on Synology D… - Apple Community
November 19, 2023 - ... What version of Samba is installed on the NAS? If after 4.8, it should support the Time Machine over SMB specification. In that case, SMB should be used. AFP on a NAS isn’t really AFP since Apple never licensed it. Many people reported the backups get corrupted and have to start over.
Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 254148071
SMB vs. AFP - Apple Community
August 28, 2022 - Use SMB, despite the fact it is slower and arguably less reliable than AFP had been — when we were able to use Apple equipment exclusively. ... This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional ...
Image Alchemist
imagealchemist.net › time-machine-backup-to-synology-nas
Time Machine Backup To Synology NAS • Image Alchemist
December 13, 2021 - You can do that from the SMB/AFP/NFS tab under AFP in DSM 6 or the AFP tab in DSM 7. Note that if you connected over AFP earlier from your Mac to shared folders on your NAS, you might have to reconnect over SMB. Now that you have set up your Synology DiskStation, it is time to get your Mac ready. Most of the work is done in System Preferences > Time Machine.
Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 256182915
time machines used for back ups and AFP p… - Apple Community
November 8, 2025 - The main trade-off is slower incremental backups and less efficient space usage. If you’re running macOS Big Sur or newer, Apple’s TM prefers SMB over AFP, but the Time Capsule’s older firmware doesn’t handle SMB-based Time Machine backups properly, which is why AFP remains necessary in that setup.
Macworld
macworld.com › home › how-to
What file service should you use with network drives and Time Machine? | Macworld
February 10, 2017 - However, it’s deprecated AFP in favor of the Windows-compatible Server Message Block (SMB) format, which is what’s typically used with network-attached storage (NAS) devices and non-Apple Wi-Fi routers that allow USB-connected drives.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/synology › using afp for files and smb for time machine backup
r/synology on Reddit: Using AFP for files and SMB for time machine backup
August 13, 2021 -
So I recently got a new computer. I setup my Synology on the local network using AFP and by following this guide. Lets say this is User1 https://www.synology.com/helpfile/help/DSM/5.2/dsm/enu/Tutorial/store_with_mac.html
I then setup a time machine backup using SMB and by following this guide. This is User2
https://kb.synology.com/en-my/DSM/tutorial/How_to_back_up_files_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine#Er1P5JJdcm
When I setup the time machine, Finder shows me connected as the User2. However, I want to use User1 since that has access to the files on my NAS. Is there any way to connect User1 without disconnecting User2 and stopping the time machine backup?
Top answer 1 of 2
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You really shouldn't be using AFP at all. Apple deprecated it 7 years ago in macOS 10.9 (Mavericks), and has dropped support for it entirely in macOS 11 (Big Sur).
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You cannot connect from the same client to the same NAS as two different users, no. Just drop the AFP service and use SMB for filesharing.
Ars OpenForum
arstechnica.com › forums › operating systems & software › macintoshian achaia
Migrating TimeMachine from AFP (netatalk) to SMB (samba) | Ars OpenForum
December 19, 2020 - That would be especially AFP, as SMB has been the default for years, but also HFS Time Machine backups. APFS is much smarter, it doesn't copy a whole huge file because just a small part of it was changed. You should be able to keep around your old backup as a disk image and browse it manually.
Synology Community
community.synology.com › enu › forum › 1 › post › 161777
SMB / AFP issue with Time Machine Settings
July 20, 2023 - Hi! Come and join us at Synology Community. A place to answer all your Synology questions. Ask a question or start a discussion now.
Photography Life
photographylife.com › home › storage hardware and software › afp vs nfs vs smb performance on macos mojave
AFP vs NFS vs SMB Performance on macOS Mojave
April 26, 2020 - With the mix of clients, AFP was out so I set up shares on SMB2: as I write this, AFP officially is deprecated (not yet dead, but going away) and replaced by SMB2. I have two, 4TB WD Red drives in a ZFS pool in Raid 1 configuration. Once I’ve migrated over the data from two more 4TB Reds, I’ll add them to the pool for a Raid 10. I’ve a few 2TB drives laying about, one (or two in Raid 1) of which I’ll probably use in a separate volume for Time Machine.
Synology Community
community.synology.com › enu › forum › 5 › post › 167760
Time Machine via SMB vs AFP on Synology DSM 7.1.1
November 18, 2023 - Hi! Come and join us at Synology Community. A place to answer all your Synology questions. Ask a question or start a discussion now.
The Eclectic Light Company
eclecticlight.co › 2025 › 05 › 15 › check-your-network-backups-and-shares-as-afp-is-being-removed
Check your network backups and shares, as AFP is being removed – The Eclectic Light Company
May 19, 2025 - When APFS was introduced in High Sierra, it wasn’t supported by AFP and has required SMB, although Time Machine backups have continued to work over AFP through their use of sparse bundles. Earlier versions of SMB haven’t worked particularly well with macOS, but in recent years SMB version 3 has improved substantially, and should be supported by all recent NAS systems. Greatest problems come with Apple’s old Time Capsules, most of which are still used with AFP, as they can only support SMB version 1, not versions 2 or 3.