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FileVault doesn't encrypt disk

Hi,


I'm on a 2020 Apple M1 Mac Book Pro, 13inch with a 512GB SSD. I'm running Big Sur 11.6.2.


I've tried enabling FileVault in the Security and Privacy options. Once I click 'Turn On' I'm given my passcode and then it immediately says it turned on - no waiting for the disk to encrypt (see image below which appears immediately).


I've checked Disk Utility which says it's encrypted.


However, I ran diskutil apfs list from the terminal and I get the output listed which is hard to interpret.


I've tried this using my old account, then I erased my disk and reinstalled Big Sur (but not my old account - I'm trying to do a cryptographic erase before I sell it).


Can someone please help me ascertain whether I've enabled File Vault or not please?


Thanks in advance!



APFS Containers (3 found)
|
+-- Container disk3 754AAFFC-E14E-41CA-8BAF-6840A61F6180

    ====================================================

    APFS Container Reference:     disk3

    Size (Capacity Ceiling):      494384795648 B (494.4 GB)

    Capacity In Use By Volumes:   33013383168 B (33.0 GB) (6.7% used)

    Capacity Not Allocated:       461371412480 B (461.4 GB) (93.3% free)

    |

    +-< Physical Store disk0s2 2F9E0678-C0FE-4627-BC31-E7B413939816

    |   -----------------------------------------------------------

    |   APFS Physical Store Disk:   disk0s2

    |   Size:                       494384795648 B (494.4 GB)

    |

    +-> Volume disk3s1 97E1B75D-F163-4144-A3F4-175A7885B5EB

    |   ---------------------------------------------------

    |   APFS Volume Disk (Role):   disk3s1 (Data)

    |   Name:                      Untitled - Data (Case-insensitive)

    |   Mount Point:               /System/Volumes/Data

    |   Capacity Consumed:         16220225536 B (16.2 GB)

    |   Sealed:                    No

    |   FileVault:                 Yes (Unlocked)

    |

    +-> Volume disk3s3 A89B4528-B3E6-4F79-B653-6AA05C830D13

    |   ---------------------------------------------------

    |   APFS Volume Disk (Role):   disk3s3 (System)

    |   Name:                      Untitled (Case-insensitive)

    |   Mount Point:               Not Mounted

    |   Capacity Consumed:         15321403392 B (15.3 GB)

    |   Sealed:                    Broken

    |   FileVault:                 Yes (Unlocked)

    |   Encrypted:                 No

    |   |

    |   Snapshot:                  CB401C7D-4AF3-44FF-AF47-3E144F9F6587

    |   Snapshot Disk:             disk3s3s1

    |   Snapshot Mount Point:      /

    |   Snapshot Sealed:           Yes

    |

    +-> Volume disk3s4 BA3A25C9-802F-4C96-B382-11A61A9EC4F1

    |   ---------------------------------------------------

    |   APFS Volume Disk (Role):   disk3s4 (Preboot)

    |   Name:                      Preboot (Case-insensitive)

    |   Mount Point:               /System/Volumes/Preboot

    |   Capacity Consumed:         230236160 B (230.2 MB)

    |   Sealed:                    No

    |   FileVault:                 No

    |

    +-> Volume disk3s5 38DA8B20-325F-4D69-811B-13FE6906DB48

    |   ---------------------------------------------------

    |   APFS Volume Disk (Role):   disk3s5 (Recovery)

    |   Name:                      Recovery (Case-insensitive)

    |   Mount Point:               Not Mounted

    |   Capacity Consumed:         1022619648 B (1.0 GB)

    |   Sealed:                    No

    |   FileVault:                 No

    |

    +-> Volume disk3s6 CB7FE97B-C270-4D22-82A7-F6A7FB12A2AE

        ---------------------------------------------------

        APFS Volume Disk (Role):   disk3s6 (VM)

        Name:                      VM (Case-insensitive)

        Mount Point:               /System/Volumes/VM

        Capacity Consumed:         20480 B (20.5 KB)

        Sealed:                    No

        FileVault:                 No




MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 18, 2022 11:09 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 20, 2022 8:15 PM

Beginning with the 2018 Macs, Apple began using hardware encryption so technically your 2018+ Macs are always encrypted. Apple still allows you to enable Filevault as an extra "layer" of protection. Here is an Apple article regarding the hardware encryption provided by the 2018 Macs utilizing the T2 security chip or the M1 CPU:

About encrypted storage on your new Mac - Apple Support


Actually from that Apple article:

You should also turn on FileVault for additional security, because without FileVault enabled, your encrypted SSDs automatically mount and decrypt when connected to your Mac.


Similar questions

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 20, 2022 8:15 PM in response to RobArbon

Beginning with the 2018 Macs, Apple began using hardware encryption so technically your 2018+ Macs are always encrypted. Apple still allows you to enable Filevault as an extra "layer" of protection. Here is an Apple article regarding the hardware encryption provided by the 2018 Macs utilizing the T2 security chip or the M1 CPU:

About encrypted storage on your new Mac - Apple Support


Actually from that Apple article:

You should also turn on FileVault for additional security, because without FileVault enabled, your encrypted SSDs automatically mount and decrypt when connected to your Mac.


Jan 19, 2022 8:23 AM in response to RobArbon

RobArbon wrote:

Hi,

I'm on a 2020 Apple M1 Mac Book Pro, 13inch with a 512GB SSD. I'm running Big Sur 11.6.2.

I've tried enabling FileVault in the Security and Privacy options. Once I click 'Turn On' I'm given my passcode and then it immediately says it turned on - no waiting for the disk to encrypt (see image below which appears immediately).

I've checked Disk Utility which says it's encrypted.

However, I ran diskutil apfs list from the terminal and I get the output listed which is hard to interpret.

I've tried this using my old account, then I erased my disk and reinstalled Big Sur (but not my old account - I'm trying to do a cryptographic erase before I sell it).

Can someone please help me ascertain whether I've enabled File Vault or not please?



Hmmm. not sure if I understand the issue...


For checking the FilVault status, what does Terminal.app return if you copy & paste:

sudo fdesetup status




ref:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/turn-off-filevault-encryption-on-mac-mchlp2560/12.0/mac/12.0


What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac


Jan 19, 2022 8:30 AM in response to RobArbon

Changing the setting of encryption/decryption takes only a moment.


The actual process of encryption/decryption will run as a background process. Blocks of data are read in under the old rules, and written out under the new rules. It can easily take FOUR HOURS or more of awake-time to complete. it makes progress only when your Mac is awake and able to do I/O.


In the meantime, your drive is half-encrypted. Any status reports you request might show ANYTHING, and not be in error.


MacOS is pretty smart about all this. Many (but not all) operations can continue on a half-encrypted drive.


You can not cancel this process. You can not change state again until it completes.

FileVault doesn't encrypt disk

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