Got an old encrypted hard drive in a drawer? Apple just put a deadline on it. With the upcoming macOS 28 update, your Mac will flat-out refuse to mount encrypted drives using the old Mac OS Extended file system — so if you’re still holding on to one, now’s the time to deal with it.
This isn’t coming out of nowhere. Apple has been flagging incompatible hard drives by showing warning pop-ups since macOS 26 and has now confirmed a hard cutoff.
So take note: if you still have an old backup or an archive of camera footage stored on an encrypted Mac OS Extended volume in a drawer or cabinet, macOS 28 will lock you out unless you fix it.