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chinchillas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 3, 2015
135
30
Hi, my Mac is fully encrypted and I'd like to change the main (admin) password. Does this change affect the encryption?
 

NoBoMac

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 1, 2014
6,244
4,931
In the case of Macs with M processors or T chips, encryption key is part of the Secure Enclave.

And when FileVault is turned on on these Macs, like non-T Intel Macs, the new password is used to encrypt an intermediate encryption key that decrypts the system key.

User PW -> decrypt intermediate key -> decrypt system key -> decrypt drive
 
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