Apple makes a big advancement for Macs introduced in 2018 or later. That is implementing a chip called T2 security chip on Mac computers. Before the introduction to the T2 security chip, Apple released the T1 chip in 2016. They are both the T series from apple silicon, which is the collective name for system-on-chip (SoC), and system-in-package (SiP) processors. As the series targeting Mac computers, the improvements of T2 chip mainly lie in security. However, it also brings much impact on data recovery. When important information was deleted or lost due to accidental deletion, virus infection, disk corruption, or macOS crash on a T2-equipped Mac, download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac Free to help you out.
What T1 Chip offers
The T1 chip was launched in the first Touch Bar–equipped MacBook Pros in late 2016. It is the first trial of custom-designed SoC built for the Mac.
The T1 chip operates as Apple’s secure enclave coprocessor, independent of macOS and the Intel processor contained within. This means that hackers can’t access to any data on Mac’s internal hard drive without going through the T1 chip’s encryption first. TheT1 chip encrypts the Touch ID fingerprint within the Touch Bar. Besides, the T1 chip also plays the role of a gatekeeper for the microphone and FaceTime HD camera. As a System Management Controller (SMC), the T1 chip takes charge of thermal and power management, battery charging, video mode switching, etc.
In less than two years, Apple released the T2 chip. What made T2 better than T1?
What’s special about T2 Chip
After its debut in the iMac Pro 2017, the Apple T2 chip can be found in a Mac mini, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model introduced in 2018 or later. As Apple’s second-generation custom silicon for Mac, the T2 chip is built on the T1’s foundation and is an upgrade from that. So, besides the previous designs, what new capabilities does it offer?
The biggest highlight of the T2 chip has to be the Secure Boot. The T2 chip will verify the integration of the computer’s boot process. That is to say, the Mac computer with the T2 chip will only allow itself to start up with Apple-trusted hardware. Otherwise, it will stop booting. This function prevents hackers from stealing your information when booting up from external drives or network. Apple also offers you the chance to disable this function, if you’d like to start up with non-Apple hardware.
The T2 chip use on-the-fly encryption and hardware decryption. Data will be encrypted and decrypted at the same time when it is read and written to SSD to make sure all data stays unreadable for unauthorized eyes at any time.
To better protect the user’s privacy from eavesdropping and secret recording, when the lid of a Mac laptop is closed, the built-in microphone and camera will be hardware turned off by the T2 chip.
How does the T2 chip affect data recovery?
While the data on the SSD is much more secured than ever, the T2 chip’s encryption also makes it extremely difficult to get the lost data back.
When automatically encrypting the data stored on the SSD, the T2 chip will generate a random serial key invisible to the user. It will make Target Disk Mode useless because another T2 chip is not able to decrypt the data on a T2-encrypted Mac where you have deleted or lost important files.
To make sure you have access to the secured SSD, the T2 chip will verify one or two passwords-the the login PINand FileVault password(if you turn it on and by default it is the same as the login PIN) or FileVault Recovery key. For those who have a hard time remembering passwords, data could be locked or even erased by the T2 chip after multiple incorrect password input.
The T2 security chip is hardware, after all. Even if it’s implemented within the computer, there’s a slight chance that it could get physically damaged. Once the chip is damaged or inoperable, there’s almost no way to decrypt the ciphertext.
Mac’s SSD is an encrypted disk. When it comes to data recovery, however, not all data recovery software is able to scan and decrypt encrypted Mac’s hard drive.
Conclusion
The T2 security chip makes your personal data more secure than ever, but at the same time, it also brings challenges especially to data restoring. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is one of the few data recovery programs that can scan and decrypt data on T2 built-in Mac.
