Filevault - can an encrypted disk be decrypted in a diff model laptop?

[fessen]

The logic board on one of my older laptops has given up the ghost. The boot hard drive is filevault-encrypted.

Is it possible to decrypt this hard drive and boot using a different macbook model, assuming that that model is capable of running the version of macOS that is on the hard drive?

Or to get the data off the drive, would I have to find another macbook from the same version line as the one that the encryption was originally done on?
(And if it's a different model, would the computers still have to be matched in terms of hardware like RAM size, presence/absence of DVD drive, etc?)

 

[pmiles]

You look at this:

How to recover data from a Mac with T2 or FileVault encryption and without a password

The owner may have died or is incapacitated, or you or someone else has simply forgotten an administrative password, making the contents irretrievable.

www.macworld.com

 

[DeltaMac]

How old is your failed Mac laptop?
If it is old enough to have an actual hard drive, then it will be a simple matter of removing the hard drive, putting that in an external USB enclosure, and connecting to another Mac. A FileVault encrypted drive will ask for an unlock password. Enter that, and the drive should mount.
One BIG problem might be if the logic board failure "shorted out" the SATA drive chip, which could damage the drive electronics, leaving it "deaf and dumb". It's a possibility - but try the drive in an external enclosure anyway.

 

[fessen]

You look at this:

How to recover data from a Mac with T2 or FileVault encryption and without a password

The owner may have died or is incapacitated, or you or someone else has simply forgotten an administrative password, making the contents irretrievable.

www.macworld.com

Thanks for the article link, but I do have the password and the original laptop does not have a T2 chip. So I still need to know if I the only way to get the data is by putting it into a matched laptop vs using any compatible laptop (or HDD enclosure).

 

[DeltaMac]

No, I don't think you would need a similar laptop. Any Mac should work for that - and you could even plug into a T2-chip Mac, just to try to mount the drive (It should first ask you for the password, which should unlock the drive, and should then continue to mount. If the macOS version is supported on a T2 Mac, and you have security on the T2 Mac set to allow booting from an external device, then it should boot that Mac. Again, that depends on what macOS version is installed on the drive from the old Mac.

 

[fessen]

Well, at least I can confirm that it IS possible to decrypt and mount the disk when it is placed in an external drive enclosure.

 

[Fishrrman]

I read the article from MacWorld that pmiles posted in reply 2 above.

Although it gave "suggestions" as to where one might look to discover a password for a t-2 protected drive, ultimately it looks like if there's no password, there will be no access.

What does this do for the data-recovery business?

Having said that, the OP's experience illustrates why I DO NOT use filevault, and do not recommend its use to anyone I know.

I also have disabled "startup security" in my (t-2 equipped) 2018 Mini.
I WANT the data on it to be relatively "easy to reach".

Of all my drives, I have only one of them, with one partition on that drive, that is "password-protected" (using disk utility at format).
I keep some banking info, etc. on it and keep the drive in my car as "an offsite backup". This way, if the car is stolen or broken into, someone may "get the drive" but they won't get the data on it. (or at least the data in that one partition).