linux-apfs-rw VS apfs-fuse

I've looked hard and the best I've come across is linux-apfs-rw, but AFAIK that won't let me work with an encrypted APFS volume.

Assuming it's APFS, there's this module that I haven't used but touts read and experimental write support. I'm sure there's others too.

You have this it's the closest thing to free, the problem is that it's experimental. You have payment options like Pararon APFS for Linux, which is more certain that it works.

use another FS. there is no mkfs.apfs or the likes and there is only very experimental write support via this.

> compatible with macOS filesystems (HFS+ and APFS)

How far along is this? I think she's underestimating how hard it is to implement a modern filesystem that won't eat users' data. I've been working on a Linux APFS driver[0] for several years, and it's not fully functional yet. It's a pity that she is working with FreeBSD, or it could have been of use to her.

[0] https://github.com/eafer/linux-apfs-rw

OR to attempt to recover data from the old drive, you can use a USB and boot into a Linux Live instance, install apfs-fuse to mount the partition if it is not encrypted. Here's a tutorial to boot into Ubuntu Live. And here is a link to the github repository for apfs-fuse.

There is a WIP Linux fuse based driver on GITHUB (here).

Also potentially useful: apfs-fuse and apfsprogs.

PS: there's apparently an apfs-fuse module out there (read-only though) if you want to copy files from OSX to Linux, although I know nothing about how reliable it is.

i'd try booting a live linux environment and using apfs-fuse , easiest with an arch based distro, recommend manjaro and using AUR to install it.

Assuming you're running High Sierra or later, though, reading the drive on anything other than macOS is gonna take a bit of know-how, because it'll be APFS-formatted, and there just isn't much support for APFS on other platforms currently. You'll need to run Linux and compile apfs-fuse in order to mount the drive.

If the SSD is soldered to the logic board you might be screwed since you can't boot into Target Mode. However, for what it's worth, I yanked the SSD out of an older MBP that tanked and successfully mounted it as read-only on my Linux machine via apfs-fuse. This despite the fact that my wife's 2019 MBA with Big Sur couldn't mount or fix it.