Apple is preparing to retire hdiutil, a Terminal command that has handled disk images since the early days of Mac OS X. While most Mac owners may never notice the change, developers and utility apps could face a more significant adjustment.
Apple has officially marked hdiutil as deprecated in macOS 27. However, the command will continue working for now. The company instead wants developers and advanced users to move toward the newer diskutil image command.
Apple Points Users Toward diskutil image
The deprecation warning appears directly in hdiutil’s Terminal manual. Apple tells users to adopt diskutil image for future disk image operations. The replacement includes commands for attaching, creating, resizing, inspecting, and changing passwords on disk images.
Moreover, Apple Sparse Image Format, or ASIF, works only with diskutil image. This gives the newer tool capabilities that hdiutil does not support.
Still, switching tools may not always produce identical results. The report notes that diskutil image currently reproduces most, but not every, hdiutil function. It can also behave differently during some operations.
Security May Have Influenced the Change
Apple has not given a specific reason for retiring hdiutil. However, security concerns could form part of the decision.
In October 2025, Apple addressed a macOS Sonoma vulnerability involving the command. The flaw could allow an hdiutil operation to unexpectedly execute arbitrary code. Apple said it resolved the issue by removing the vulnerable code.
Utility Apps Could Feel the Impact
For everyday Mac users, the transition should remain largely invisible. Yet some third-party applications call hdiutil behind the scenes. Disk repair and system utility software may rely on it for important tasks.
Therefore, developers will need to update affected software before Apple removes the command completely.
Apple has not announced exactly when hdiutil will disappear. It will remain available in macOS Golden Gate and could survive beyond the following release. Nevertheless, its official deprecation confirms that one of macOS Terminal’s long-standing disk image tools is heading toward retirement.
