MacBook Pro 2019 reset to factory: Mojave or Catalina?

[_michael_]

Hi All,
I am new to Macs. I need to reset my MacBook Pro 2019 to factory settings. It was on Mojave originally then I upgraded it to Catalina. My questions are:

1. Should I follow the steps of reset for Mojave or Catalina?
2. What happens to FileVault encryption key when the laptop is reset? Does the encryption key remain the same?

Please, advise. Thanks

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi All,
I am new to Macs. I need to reset my MacBook Pro 2019 to factory settings. It was on Mojave originally then I upgraded it to Catalina. My questions are:

1. Should I follow the steps of reset for Mojave or Catalina?
2. What happens to FileVault encryption key when the laptop is reset? Does the encryption key remain the same?

Please, advise. Thanks

2. If you wipe the drive, then the FileVault encryption goes away (which means the encryption key goes away); you'd have to set that up again. But if it's a 2019 MacBook Pro, setting up FileVault again is instantaneous.

1. If you're wanting to restore from a Time Machine backup that you had, then I'd restore to the version you were last on with that Time Machine drive. If you weren't backing up your computer with Time Machine, then it's kind of up to you as to which OS you restore to. I try to back up and wipe when going to major OS releases (as you typically end up with a much cleaner system), but that's me. If you want to do that yourself and you're going to wipe when Big Sur comes out, then it doesn't matter. Of the two OSes that you've mentioned, I much prefer Mojave to Catalina (especially since the latter's culling of 32-bit app support is painful). But as far as the long haul is concerned, both of those OSes will inevitably lose support in favor of newer releases, so whichever one you end up on, I'd give thought to Big Sur and/or beyond.