Disk encryption

sauljaffe wrote:

I'm about to take the plunge and do a major update of the OS of my Intel Mac, moving from Mojave to Monterey and have a question about disk encryption (Filevault?)

I have a MacBook Pro from 2017

I do NOT want my disk encrypted for various reasons. I don't want to go into that, or discuss the merits of encryption in any way, I just want to know if the disk will be automatically encrypted or not or how to avoid it happening during the update process from Mojave to Monterey.

You do not have to use the FilVault option...

Use FileVault to encrypt the startup disk on your Mac - Apple ...

You said:

My issue is that I vaguely recall something from when one of the OS updates came out - I don't remember if it was Catalina, or Big Sur, or Monterey - that the disk was automatically encrypted as part of installing the update and the user did not have a choice. I'm trying to track down if this is true.

That is not true you can use Filevault or, it is your choice. I am not using Filevault.

Some users have experienced problem going from Mojave to Monterey.

I recommend upgrading to each version and not skipping versions. Some of these problem hay be due to skipping firmware updates since sometimes the update included updating the Mac's firmware like the Monterey upgrade does.

Do you have enough free disk space?

If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, your Mac needs 26GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, your Mac needs up to 44GB of available storage.

Also uninstall any antivirus and "cleaning" apps before trying installing again.

Further, you need an Apple disk installed to upgrade to Monterey since the upgrade includes an update to the Mac's firmware. That update looks for an Apple disk and write to the dick to do the firmware update. The install will terminate or freeze if no Apple disk.

One small additional point related to encryption; since Big Sur (I believe) Time Machine volumes are encrypted by default on Macs that support the T2 security chip. macOS handles the encryption/decryption automatically (I have the encryption password stored in KeyChain) but it's good practice to jot down the password to avoid problems.

- Pie Lover

since Big Sur (I believe) Time Machine volumes are encrypted by default on Macs that support the T2 security chip.

They are not.

The drive on a T2 or M1 Mac are always encrypted, but the backups are not required to be encrypted. I don't even think it defaulted to having the Encrypt Backups setting checked when I started the backup of my FileVault T2 nor my M1. It did suggest I encrypt the backups on the T2 Mac since I had enabled FileVault on it, but I chose not to do so.

My issue is that I vaguely recall something from when one of the OS updates came out - I don't remember if it was Catalina, or Big Sur, or Monterey - that the disk was automatically encrypted as part of installing the update and the user did not have a choice. I'm trying to track down if this is true.

It is not. What you may be misremembering is that Macs with a T2 Chip are always encrypted. So are M1 Macs. I don't think your Mac is a T2 Mac, but it wouldn't matter, anyway. While the drive is encrypted, you don't have to enable FileVault.

Another possibility is that the Setup Assistant defaults to encryption for laptop Macs. Just don't skip through the setup assistant and leave it set to enable FileVault.