Should I turn on firevault encryption in MacBook Pro

mysixcatsanddogs wrote:

should i turn on firevault encryption

That is a user preference

Encrypt Mac data with FileVault - Apple Support

Even though the HT above appears outdated—the newer Apple Silicon Macs there a similar Secure Enclave built

right into the M1 SoC. So it is still your choice.

If you choose to encrypt your drive, it will not be readable by anyone who does not have the password to decrypt it. the default password is typically your login password. Remember, that includes YOU if you forget that password. There is no back door and no way around disk encryption at this writing.

But that also means that is anything gets messed up, there will be NO SURVIVORS -- your data will NOT be salvageable if there are any problems.

If I were King, I would not allow any disk to be encrypted until there was a Trusted backup of its data on a local, disk-based backup drive.

For most users, a backup is far more important than encrypting your drive.

For me, I back up my drives. I do not encrypt them, instead choosing to rely on Apple ability using Find My Mac to lock the drive if it goes missing. I also do not keep credit card numbers or other sensitive data on my computer, preferring to enter manually every time they are needed.

Is this a relatively new Mac with either a T2 chip or Apple Silicon? If so, the drive is encrypted.

You can turn on FileVault to enable a password to decrypt the drive. Otherwise, it is decrypted automatically without user input

I don't think so. I don't have any state secrets and adhering to the usual security precautions and using common sense works for me.