Let me start by creating a 1 GiB sparse disk image which contains a GPT with single empty APFS container. The commands are given below. Note that for 1 GiB disks, an EFI partition is not created by the diskutil erasedisk verb.
hdiutil create -size 1g -type SPARSE -layout none -ov MyGiB
hdiutil attach -nomount MyGiB.sparseimage
diskutil erasedisk jhfs+ %noformat% gpt disk2
diskutil apfs createcontainer disk2s1
diskutil list external
Below are the is the output from entering the above commands.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % hdiutil create -size 1g -type SPARSE -layout none -ov MyGiB
created: /Users/davidanderson/Desktop/MyGiB.sparseimage
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % hdiutil attach -nomount MyGiB.sparseimage
/dev/disk2
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % diskutil erasedisk jhfs+ %noformat% gpt disk2
Started erase on disk2
Unmounting disk
Creating the partition map
Waiting for partitions to activate
Finished erase on disk2
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % diskutil apfs createcontainer disk2s1
Creating container with disk2s1
Started APFS operation on disk2s1
Creating a new empty APFS Container
Unmounting Volumes
Switching disk2s1 to APFS
Creating APFS Container
Created new APFS Container disk3
Disk from APFS operation: disk3
Finished APFS operation on disk2s1
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (disk image):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme +1.1 GB disk2
1: Apple_APFS Container disk3 1.1 GB disk2s1
/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +1.1 GB disk3
Physical Store disk2s1
With the disk initialize, I will start adding APFS volumes without reserving space.
newfs_apfs -v "Volume1" -A disk3
OK
newfs_apfs -v "Volume2" -A disk3
OK
newfs_apfs -v "Volume3" -A disk3
newfs_apfs: unable to format volume inside /dev/disk3: Result too large
I think the OP made the assumption that the reserving of 200 MiB per volume was the problem. I think the problem is that a container of only 1 GiB limits the maximum volumes to 2.
Before proceeding, I entered the following command to eject disk2, which also ejects disk3.
diskutil eject disk2
Redoing the Experiment with a 1 TiB Disk and 200 GiB Volumes
Let me start by creating a 1 TiB sparse bundle disk image which contains a GPT with single empty APFS container. The commands are given below. Note that for 1 TiB disks, a 200 MiB EFI partition is created by the diskutil erasedisk verb.
hdiutil create -size 1t -type SPARSEBUNDLE -layout none -ov MyTiB
hdiutil attach -nomount MyTiB.sparsebundle
diskutil erasedisk jhfs+ %noformat% gpt disk2
diskutil apfs createcontainer disk2s2
diskutil list external
The output from the above commands is basically the same as before, with the exception of the diskutil list external output, which is given below.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (disk image):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme +1.1 TB disk2
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk2s1
2: Apple_APFS Container disk3 1.1 TB disk2s2
/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +1.1 TB disk3
Physical Store disk2s2
Below, I keep making 200 GiB volumes until something goes wrong.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume1" -s 200G -A disk3
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume2" -s 200G -A disk3
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume3" -s 200G -A disk3
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume4" -s 200G -A disk3
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume5" -s 200G -A disk3
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % newfs_apfs -v "Volume6" -s 200G -A disk3
newfs_apfs: unable to format volume inside /dev/disk3: No space left on device
After creating 5 volumes of 214.7 GB each, there is 25.8 GB left, which is more than enough to support the GPT, the 200 MiB EFI partition and any other space needed by the APFS container. The exact computation is shown below.
1 TiB - (5 x 200 GiB) = 24 GiB
Below is the output from diskutil list disk3 and diskutil apfs list disk3.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac Desktop % diskutil list disk3
/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +1.1 TB disk3
Physical Store disk2s2
1: APFS Volume Volume1 214.7 GB disk3s1
2: APFS Volume Volume2 214.7 GB disk3s2
3: APFS Volume Volume3 214.7 GB disk3s3
4: APFS Volume Volume4 214.7 GB disk3s4
5: APFS Volume Volume5 214.7 GB disk3s5
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil apfs list disk3
|
+-- Container disk3 02B7FC98-230C-4FCD-8B23-FB1A96081B3F
====================================================
APFS Container Reference: disk3
Size (Capacity Ceiling): 1099301871616 B (1.1 TB)
Capacity In Use By Volumes: 1073958289408 B (1.1 TB) (97.7% used)
Capacity Not Allocated: 25343582208 B (25.3 GB) (2.3% free)
|
+-< Physical Store disk2s2 3FECC3C1-E6B9-41D5-BCA0-6859B6C8819A
| -----------------------------------------------------------
| APFS Physical Store Disk: disk2s2
| Size: 1099301871616 B (1.1 TB)
|
+-> Volume disk3s1 C6D7C2C5-5040-428F-AA4B-9CF348DF48D0
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk3s1 (No specific role)
| Name: Volume1 (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: Not Mounted
| Capacity Consumed: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Reserve: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Quota: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB) (100.0% reached)
| Sealed: No
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk3s2 8DD3AB61-8F64-41C2-BE12-2229AE73166C
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk3s2 (No specific role)
| Name: Volume2 (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: Not Mounted
| Capacity Consumed: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Reserve: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Quota: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB) (100.0% reached)
| Sealed: No
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk3s3 CF531006-42ED-46A9-9350-338DEFB95A42
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk3s3 (No specific role)
| Name: Volume3 (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: Not Mounted
| Capacity Consumed: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Reserve: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Quota: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB) (100.0% reached)
| Sealed: No
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk3s4 5EFD57F0-3FA1-4B7E-B617-B157F8CDFE92
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk3s4 (No specific role)
| Name: Volume4 (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: Not Mounted
| Capacity Consumed: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Reserve: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
| Capacity Quota: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB) (100.0% reached)
| Sealed: No
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk3s5 DDA13866-9C0C-4684-9A79-2428648DAAE7
---------------------------------------------------
APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk3s5 (No specific role)
Name: Volume5 (Case-insensitive)
Mount Point: Not Mounted
Capacity Consumed: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
Capacity Reserve: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB)
Capacity Quota: 214748364800 B (214.7 GB) (100.0% reached)
Sealed: No
FileVault: No