Future Time Machine Support on TP-Link Routers (macOS 27 Compatibility)
Hi there,
I just noticed that with the latest macOS 26 Tahoe beta, Apple has announced that AFP network volumes will no longer be supported for Time Machine backups starting with macOS 27.
Since I primarily use my Deco BE65 for Time Machine backups, I wanted to ask if there are any plans to support this functionality in the future – for example, by improving SMB support for Time Machine.
Currently, no TP-Link routers support the APFS file format required for Time Machine disks, and formats like exFAT or NTFS aren’t compatible with Time Machine over SMB either. So simply switching to SMB doesn’t work unless the router is explicitly designed to support Time Machine via SMB with a compatible backend (e.g., sparsebundle support and proper service advertisement).
Or maybe I’m just missing something – I haven’t found any additional Time Machine-specific settings in the Deco app besides the simple on/off toggle.
I’ve attached some screenshots from the current beta for context.
Thanks in advance and best regards!
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My return window for BE63 is very soon, and I need to know whether to return it or keep it, and that depends on whether there will be a solution to the Time Machine backup on latest and future macOS. Currently, I cannot start new backups as macOS will refuse to start a new backup before I knows AFP will be obsolete. Deco needs to broadcast the SMB address of the disc over Bonjour so that TM sees it. It currently sees only the AFP address, and unless existing backup is there, TM will refuse to do a backup. Will this be addressed? When? This is not only an issue for the future when macOS 27 hits, it's an issue now for those who want to start a new backup to a disc connected to BE63.
The reason I bought BE63 is the USB connection to use it with SSD for backup. If I can't be sure this will be resolved soon, I'll have to return BE63 and keep looking for a solution.
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Hi, Apple has announced that Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) for Time Machine backups will no longer be supported in a future version of macOS(the release of macOS 27). As a result, the TimeMachine feature on Deco can no longer be used for MacBook Backup with macOS 27 and later.
Our senior engineering team is actively prioritizing the development of Time Machine over the SMB network protocol, while this process does require time. We will keep you updated with further improvements.
Thank you very much for your patience and support.
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@David-TP Thank you for keeping us up to date!
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@David-TP Will this development priority also include other routers with Storage Sharing like the Archer BE550?
I made a post about it here: https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/840806
I'm hoping that this development will also be brought into other routers.
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Hi, any update on this ?
I just bought Deco BE65 and have wasted a lot of time trying to get this to work.
Any workaround for now ?
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someone else posted this a while back
https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/824592?replyId=1605566
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just note that the issue is not only with future MacOS (27 or later), but the issue is even with MacOS 26, the current one. This is because currently one can only backup using Time Machine if the backup already exists in the disk. But one cannot start a new backup over the existing AFP protocol. Since deco cirrrnrly doesn't broadcast SMB address of disk over Bonjour, and it does so only over AFP, I cannot do backups even now.
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yes , I am using macos26 and doesnt work
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