

When you select an APFS volume group (e.g. What to expect as you configure your first backup task For subsequent backups, CCC will use its own file copier and will copy just the differences from your Mac's Data volume.

When you configure a CCC backup task to make a clone of a Big Sur startup volume, CCC will use Apple's APFS replicator (named "ASR") to create the initial clone. CCC cannot use its own file copier to establish an initial bootable backup of your Mac's startup disk. To create a functional copy of the macOS 11 System volume, we have to use an Apple tool to copy the system, or install macOS onto the backup. That seal can only be applied by Apple ordinary copies of the System volume are non-bootable without Apple's seal. Starting in macOS Big Sur (11.0), the system resides on a cryptographically sealed "Signed System Volume".
