In the magnetic recording apparatus, a recording layer is formed in a concavo-convex pattern, and recording elements are formed of convex portions of the concavo-convex pattern. Furthermore, the following equation (I) BL≦ERL≦BL+2×GL  (Equation (I)) is satisfied in each of tracks, where BL represents a length of the recording element in a circumferential direction, GL represents a length of a gap between the recording elements in the circumferential direction, and ERL represents an effective recording length which is a length of an effective recording area ER in the circumferential direction, the effective recording area ER being created on a magnetic recording medium by a heating head and a recording head.