M2 13' vs M2 15' - why is START TIME different?

[timemaker27]

I own Air M2 13" 16RAM 512GB (2022) and Air M2 15" 24RAM 2TB (2023)

Why is start time longer on 15"???

When I restart/turn on my 15' mac, after seeing the black screen with an apple and a white loading bar, I am moved to the Sonoma screen to type the password and then I see again a white loading bar and I need to wait another 7s.

This second white loading bar is not present after I type my password on my 13' MacBook!

- the hard drives in both macs are about 30% full
- diagnostic says no errors
- both mac are on 14.4.1

Does any M2 15" owners experience the same?

My 15' mac is a newer device and has more ram - shouldn't it load faster?

 

[owidhh]

I own Air M2 13" 16RAM 512GB (2022) and Air M2 15" 24RAM 2TB (2023)
...

My 15' mac is a newer device and has more ram - shouldn't it load faster?

Hypothesis: larger storage requires more time to decrypt and perhaps to scan for errors.

 

[timemaker27]

Hypothesis: larger storage requires more time to decrypt and perhaps to scan for errors.

It could be, I wonder if the other mac 15 users have similar problem

 

[Mike Boreham]

I own Air M2 13" 16RAM 512GB (2022) and Air M2 15" 24RAM 2TB (2023)

Why is start time longer on 15"???

When I restart/turn on my 15' mac, after seeing the black screen with an apple and a white loading bar, I am moved to the Sonoma screen to type the password and then I see again a white loading bar and I need to wait another 7s.

This second white loading bar is not present after I type my password on my 13' MacBook!

- the hard drives in both macs are about 30% full
- diagnostic says no errors
- both mac are on 14.4.1

Does any M2 15" owners experience the same?

My 15' mac is a newer device and has more ram - shouldn't it load faster?

Sounds like FileVault might be turned on in one but not the other. Check here:

 

[timemaker27]

Sounds like FileVault might be turned on in one but not the other. Check here:

View attachment 2365425

Thank you Mike!!!!
Problem solved. I thought I had turned it off in both.

 

[6749974]

Curious why you would turn it off. My understanding from this reddit thread is that all FileVault does is it "includes your password as an authentication factor"; so the benefit is an extra layer of security with zero speed penalty downsize during the use of the Mac.

 

[Brian33]

EDIT: oops, somehow I had missed that you had already figured it out!

Why is start time longer on 15"???

When I restart/turn on my 15' mac, after seeing the black screen with an apple and a white loading bar, I am moved to the Sonoma screen to type the password and then I see again a white loading bar and I need to wait another 7s.

This second white loading bar is not present after I type my password on my 13' MacBook!

At least for my Intel Macs, turning Filevault on or off changes the order of two events: when you see the password prompt, and when macOS actually boots up (it's this boot time that you are most likely to notice).

You can see when macOS boots by setting verbose boot: nvram boot-args="-v" and watching all the messages fly by. I've always had that setting, and noticed the following:

Filevault off: first macOS boots up (takes awhile), then you get the login screen, followed by the desktop. (macOS doesn't need your password to read the boot volume.)

Filevault ON: first you get the login screen. THEN macOS boots up (takes awhile). (macOS must "unwrap" the Volume Decryption Key to read the boot volume.)

So the longest loading delay can come before the password prompt or after it, depending upon the Filevault setting.

I predict you have Filevault ON for your new 15" Mac (the second loading bar being the boot sequence), and Filevault OFF for your old 13" MacBook.

 

[Mike Boreham]

At least for my Intel Macs, turning Filevault on or off changes the order of two events: when you see the password prompt, and when macOS actually boots up (it's this boot time that you are most likely to notice).

You can see when macOS boots by setting verbose boot: nvram boot-args="-v" and watching all the messages fly by. I've always had that setting, and noticed the following:

Filevault off: first macOS boots up (takes awhile), then you get the login screen, followed by the desktop. (macOS doesn't need your password to read the boot volume.)

Filevault ON: first you get the login screen. THEN macOS boots up (takes awhile). (macOS must "unwrap" the Volume Decryption Key to read the boot volume.)

So the longest loading delay can come before the password prompt or after it, depending upon the Filevault setting.

I predict you have Filevault ON for your new 15" Mac (the second loading bar being the boot sequence), and Filevault OFF for your old 13" MacBook.

OP has confirmed that was the cause in post#5. Thanks for fuller explanation.

 

[halledise]

often wondered why seem to make FileVault the default during the setting up process.
apart from commercially sensitive/super spy data, i've personally never seen the need for it …

 

[timemaker27]

Curious why you would turn it off. My understanding from this reddit thread is that all FileVault does is it "includes your password as an authentication factor"; so the benefit is an extra layer of security with zero speed penalty downsize during the use of the Mac.

I just don't need an extra security layer. I got nothing to hide I just want to quickly start using my mac after restart or turning on