Mac mini 2014 (i7) - Filevault

[lasniko]

Hi there,

I was wondering if it is good idea to "FileVault" my Mac mini. I guess because of its size it wouldn't be a bad idea to protect (at least) my files.

Two questions:

1) I think that the i7 processor of the new Mac mini 2014 in combination with the SSD won't feel a big performance hit, right?

2) Do you "FileVault" your Mac minis?

Regards!

 

[yjchua95]

Any of the Core i processors support AES-NI, so the performance hit from FileVault is almost nil.

Just FV it. All my Macs are FV-ed.

 

[lasniko]

Thank you yjchua95

I already work on my mini. It is ok to FileVault it now, or it would be better to FileVault it during a clean install?

 

[Weaselboy]

There is no reason not to just do it now. There is no need to do a clean install to use FV.

 

[yjchua95]

Thank you yjchua95

I already work on my mini. It is ok to FileVault it now, or it would be better to FileVault it during a clean install?

You can FileVault it any time you want, there won't be a difference.

 

[lasniko]

I 'll FileVault it asap. I was worried about the performance hit but all I hear is that the hit is negligible.

 

[lasniko]

I FileVaulted my mini and I noticed two things that I would like to discuss.

1) The boot screen is not like my FileVaulted MacBook Pro. The MacBook shows a grey screen where I have to type my password and then boots. The Mac mini shows the "normal" login screen with the blurred wallpaper. Is this normal?

2) The magic mouse is "disabled" in the login screen.

Regards

 

[yjchua95]

I FileVaulted my mini and I noticed two things that I would like to discuss.

1) The boot screen is not like my FileVaulted MacBook Pro. The MacBook shows a grey screen where I have to type my password and then boots. The Mac mini shows the "normal" login screen with the blurred wallpaper. Is this normal?

2) The magic mouse is "disabled" in the login screen.

Regards

It's perfectly normal. This has been the case since the Haswell Macs that support UEFI 2.0.

PS the mouse isn't actually disabled - it just needs time to connect on the FV login screen. Give it a click or two and wait for a few seconds.

 

[lasniko]

Thank you yjchua95 for the info!

 

[steve217]

I 'll FileVault it asap. I was worried about the performance hit but all I hear is that the hit is negligible.

Anandtech reported a 24% performance hit.

That was enough to scare me off FV.

Any rebuttals?

 

[hfg]

Anandtech reported a 24% performance hit.

That was enough to scare me off FV.

Any rebuttals?

Well ... that was a 2011 report with a 2011 model Sandy Bridge Macbook Pro. There are posts here regarding more modern day processors and how efficiently they handle the FV encryption process.

 

[Weaselboy]

Anandtech reported a 24% performance hit.

That was enough to scare me off FV.

Any rebuttals?

Here is a test showing almost no difference at all.

 

[lasniko]

Anandtech reported a 24% performance hit.

That was enough to scare me off FV.

Any rebuttals?

I can't "feel" any performance hit using my Mac mini after FileVaulting it. It seems the same as it was before enabling FileVault. Maybe the performance hit is negligible.

 

[steve217]

Thanks, guys.

I've got the i5 Ivy Bridge Mini (2012). I might just give FV a try.