On T2 and M1 Macs, FileVault provides robust protection of the Data volume on internal storage without any performance penalty.
M1
Before deciding on internal and external storage, you need to be realistic about the performance it will achieve. Here are the numbers – and a couple of things we tend to forget about.
Internal or external? Hard disk or SSD? USB or Thunderbolt? Cooled or compact? Branded or separates? An external boot disk? Do you have a return and refund option?
Creating the external bootable SSD, downgrading security and allowing kexts, then trying to install a kext on an external drive which must be ejected.
It’s limited to 5 Gb/s, giving read rates of about 400 MB/s and writes at about 430 MB/s. Fine for Time Machine backups, but bad with NVMe drives.
Looking forward to the time when third-party kexts are finally banished from macOS, and replaced by modern system extensions, and their siblings.
Select a test, time it, and compare the result with those from other systems. Choose whether to use a synthetic or application benchmark, and don’t forget your confirmation bias.
M1 Macs don’t support SMART monitoring over USB-C, forcing us to choose between Full Security without SMART, or Reduced Security with SMART support.
Should you be scared of ‘bricking’ your Mac? Just what does it mean, and what could you do about it? Don’t panic: it’s not a dragon to be slayed.
How can you tell when software uses the Neural Engine in an M1 series Mac? How much power does it use, and what is Espresso? Mysteries unravelled.
The Eclectic Light Company 