Your system really can’t support APFS. APFS is a very chatty file system unlike HFS+ (Journaled File System) so you loose performance and run into SATA cache issues.
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SATA based systems should stick with HFS+ running Sierra. High Sierra is an odd duck! It was the first release of APFS and Apple has already gone to the third version (Big Sur I think is running something still newer!). Remember your system is also running SATA II (3.0) so its not the fastest HDD and even if you had upgraded it to an SSD won’t leverage what the drive can offer.
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SATA based systems should stick with HFS+ running Sierra. High Sierra is an odd duck! It was the first release of APFS and Apple has already gone to the third version (Big Sur I think is running something still newer!). Remember your system is also running SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) so its not the fastest HDD and even if you had upgraded it to an SSD won’t leverage what the drive can offer.
So setting up HFS+ is your best option or better yet setup a second drive and just levered the Startup Manager using the '''Option (⌥)''' key
Your system really can’t support APFS. APFS is a very chatty file system unlike HFS+ (Journaled File System) so you loose performance and run into SATA cache issues.
SATA based systems should stick with HFS+ running Sierra. High Sierra is an odd duck! It was the first release of APFS and Apple has already gone to the third version (Big Sur I think is running something still newer!). Remember your system is also running SATA II (3.0) so its not the fastest HDD and even if you had upgraded it to an SSD won’t leverage what the drive can offer.
So setting up HFS+ is your best option or better yet setup a second drive and just levered the Startup Manager using the '''Option (⌥)''' key
Reference: [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255|Mac startup key combinations]