i never set a backup password but it says that i did so i cant restore backups and I NEED THEM!

this is an update to the semi-useful i never set a backup password but it says… - Apple Community

this what worked for me and saved my only backup from the garbage. i hope this works for you.

Setup:

1. I backed up my old iphone (SE 2nd gen) to a new macbook to which I'd never backed up the iphone before. The backup was encrypted but it did NOT ask me for a password (which I thought was kinda odd at the time)
2. I bought a new iphone (13 series), erased the old iphone (please dont to this, just use phone to phone transfer and save your sanity, it's slower but... i know it's probably too late if you're reading this)
3. I attempted to transfer my data and apps from the backup in 1 to the new iphone BUT IT WANTED MY PASSWORD which I did not supply that morning (100% sure)
4. ... freaking out, cursing, etc.... it wasnt my login (sudo style) or some other passwords I tried. there was nothing in my keychain either that might have been useful

SOLUTION:

The correct password was the same password I'd used to encrypt the same (old) iphone backup on a different, older macbook. (I realized this when I decided to restore an older backup from that computer. When restoring my "data & apps" it prompted me for the password and (the keychain?) filled it in. It was easy to guess what that password was and the length matched. I then went back to the new machine backup in step 1 and the passcode worked. I have never used that password on the new machine)

SUMMARY?: the backup encryption password goes WITH THE PHONE and not the backup?

That's the end. You can stop reading if you are a practical person.

Why and what the?

If the summary is true, it makes more sense that you turn off encryption on the device. eg If you can’t remember the password for your encrypted backup - Apple Support

But why would you the ever set or unset the encrpytion in itunes/finder? About encrypted backups on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support Would doing so only apply to backups on that machine? If you turned off encryption, would that sync with the phone and future machines? Generally (in data encryption land), dosent the encryption go with the individual backup and not whatever the source of the backup is (a phone). If I encrypt the same data to two different places (even on the same file system) cant i even use different encryption and different passwords? Bottomline is that it's confusing, not explained anywhere that i've seen, and apple needs to clean this up either by making it foolproof or giving some extra clues that encryption passwords are somehow magically ported with phones and across machines where backups are done.

Additional rant to apple:

There were many other rough edges on the restore from computer backup procedure. The absolute worst one was that every time I got the encryption password wrong, i had to go and completely erase the phone and start over. That itself takes about 5 minutes. There were other numerous points where the restore process just flaked out and stopped. Can you do some more UX testing and make this a better experience? People would be falling over themselves to help you out. I'm really disappointed by the additional 3 hours and heartburn induced by this entire process.