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The overhead is minor and most people don't notice it, especially as time goes on, i.e., you get used to how it performs.
 
well worth the small performance hit unless u don't care about what's in there at all
For laptops its an absolute must. This is my first desktop, and I haven't enabled it yet, but I'll be moving in that direction shortly.

I have my tax information, and other financial info, that I'd rather not fall into someone's hands if my house is broken into.
 
And wouldn't that affect performance?
First thing I do with any new Mac is enable FV2 encryption. There is a small speed hit, but on newer Macs, particularly those with flash storage, the difference is small. Here is a speed test.

Give it a shot and it you don't like it you can always just turn it back off.
 
And wouldn't that affect performance?

Not using FileVault is madness. It's turned on everywhere, including on my Time Machine drive. With no delay noticeable anywhere. Of course if you like some burglar who steals your Mac to go through all your stuff, leave it off.
 
There is a little bit of a performance hit as the drive is encrypted because it happens in the background, but once it's done you'll find that the performance difference is negligible. I use it because I have a lot of work stuff on my machine.
 
I have to say I am surprised to see everyone is actually using it...
Why not? it works very well, keeps you protected, and, despite your opinion, has a minor impact on performance - almost unnoticeable after the encryption is complete.
Do you have a problem with filevault because you can't figure out how to break the encryption? :D
 
So..........just assuming here.........

If your computer was seized by the FBI as crime evidence you mean they couldn't get at any of your files if encrypted by FileVault?
 
That is
So..........just assuming here.........

If your computer was seized by the FBI as crime evidence you mean they couldn't get at any of your files if encrypted by FileVault?
To answer your question - Another question: Does the FBI (or NSA, etc) currently have the tools to either break, or bypass the encryption in FileVault2?...
The current thinking (as I understand it) is that there is no "backdoor" into FileVault - and no "front door", without the FileVault password. If you can make your passcode more challenging, then that passcode or passphrase quickly becomes impractical to break.
My understanding is that all assumes data that is important at a personal/small business level, and not necessarily at a government/top security level - you would likely be using higher level encryption solutions - which, I think, makes your question more of a philosophical exercise, like a "Can God make a rock so heavy that God can't lift it" question.
 
First thing I do with any new Mac is enable FV2 encryption. There is a small speed hit, but on newer Macs, particularly those with flash storage, the difference is small. Here is a speed test.

Give it a shot and it you don't like it you can always just turn it back off.

Hey, Aug 10 2011 called, they want their article back.
 
And wouldn't that affect performance?
I thought there'd be a hit to the processor (as it's constantly encrypting/decrypting data going to/from the disk) but Activity Monitor (which I always run with the dock icon set to show the history) hasn't shown any noticeable impact.
 
That is

To answer your question - Another question: Does the FBI (or NSA, etc) currently have the tools to either break, or bypass the encryption in FileVault2?...
The current thinking (as I understand it) is that there is no "backdoor" into FileVault - and no "front door", without the FileVault password. If you can make your passcode more challenging, then that passcode or passphrase quickly becomes impractical to break.
My understanding is that all assumes data that is important at a personal/small business level, and not necessarily at a government/top security level - you would likely be using higher level encryption solutions - which, I think, makes your question more of a philosophical exercise, like a "Can God make a rock so heavy that God can't lift it" question.
This is an old report so I don't know the current situation...
http://www.cnet.com/news/filevault-2-easily-decrypted-warns-passware/
 
it would never cross my mind to put performance over security on my computers. Unless its a dedicated machine with no sensitive info on it, then i can see a argument made. If performance is effected that much by the encryption its time for a new computer.
 
FileVaut in my experience tends to wear out drives faster. Seen plenty of SSDs which were filled to the brim with data + FV2 enabled suffer data loss (SSD fails,bricks). Either way you should back up your information but FileVault may result in more wear. Seems to have gotten better with newer drives but either way, make sure you're backing up + encrypting your backup.
 
First thing I do is enable FileVault, it's a no brainier especially on laptops. Full disk encryption should just be on by default. Original FileVault was a pig, especially on spinning disks, used to creAte a encrypted sparse bundle of your home folder and mount it on logon, these days it's full disk and seamless.

Typical apple style really, first gen gets a bad name and everyone writes it off, just like maps.
 
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First thing I do is enable FileVault, it's a no brainier especially on laptops. Full disk encryption should just be on by default. Original FileVault was a pig, especially on spinning disks, used to creAte a encrypted sparse bundle of your home folder and mount it on logon, these days it's full disk and seamless.

Typical apple style really, first gen gets a bad name and everyone writes it off, just like maps.


Maps is actually usable now?
 
Maps is actually usable now?
It has for most people since the beginning. I used it all the time when driving to/from Germany and also around Florida, Carolina's, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama last year. :) I find Google maps desktop website unusable now everything is hidden!
 
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