FileVault - pros? cons?

Hello,

I've been considering turning on FileVault for some time, but continue to hesitate because I'm leery of running into problems with full disk encryption.

I would like to hear from other users on whether or not you like FileVault, or have had success or problems with it.

Thanks.

Too many 'what ifs' and too much very bad History for me to risk it.

I see this is an older post. what about file vault 2? I have this question also. anyone here using filevault 2? any comments on pros and cons.

Nothing wrong with using FileVault 2 provided you're aware of the importance of not losing your passcode. Mac security folks recommend encrypting your hard drive with FileVault if you have data that is at risk because of its sensitivity. Probably a good move for those folks who do a lot of traveling with a portable Mac.

Yes! FileVault works well in my computer. Just make sure to secure your account and passcode. Also, try the latest version of FileVault, it is fast and performs well in encrypting the files on your hard drive. So far, no negative comments about FileVault

I have a desktop mac, but if its ever stolen, I'm thinking filevault could help protect access to the data. thanks for the replies.

@macgig

For the sake of balance:

Here's how to do it by Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204837

Here's why you should by a firm "believer": https://www.macworld.com/article/28...ilevault-2-and-why-you-absolutely-should.html

Here's just one of many sites mentioning the "problems" one might encounter: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/275534/downsides-of-encrypting-disk-with-filevault

I take no side on the matter. It's your choice. What is worth emphasising is that:

1. It takes a very, very long time. Many, many hours.

2. Don't ever lose the Recovery Key

Ian

FileVault 2 encryption doesn't have much of a performance impact, either during the encryption process and/or after the encryption had been completed. Going from FileVault to FileVault 2 certainly did have performance and/or functionality improvements; however, most of the actual performance increase came from the Intel/AMD CPU. Since about 2010, the Intel/AMD CPUs include the AES-NI instruction sets, that's basically offloads the the encryption overhead from the CPU to the AES-NI. In another word, it's hardware based encryption in the CPU, that brings me to my question...

Does macOS FileVault 2 support Self Encrypted Drives, or SEDs? These type of drives are very common nowadays, be that HDD, SSD and NVMe PCIe x4 card, pretty much all of them support Opal SED standards. Instead of encrypting with FileVault 2 the already encrypted content of the SED drive, FileVault 2 could just manage access to the encryption keys that reside on the Self Encrypted Drive.

In the Windows world, Bitlocker is Self Encrypting Drive aware starting in Windows 8 and newer versions. Upon activating, Bitlocker will not encrypt the drive's content and instead, controls access to the SED's encryption keys. Moving the drive to another system and/or booting the PC to a removable storage media still requires authentication for the Self Encrypting Drive. In this case, it pretty much acts the same way as setting the hard drive password in the BIOS/EUFI in the PC world.

Maybe FileVault 3 will have this functionality for future Apple desktops and laptops? If I recall correctly, Apple currently does not ship any system with SEDs that comply with the Opal standard. Maybe I am wrong, or at least I hope I am...