Is it better to encrypt the hard drive you will use for Time Machine backup with Disk Utility or with Time Machine itself? I have noticed the the dialogue is slightly different, wherein Disk Utility a hint is not required, but with Time Machine it is… are there any other differences under the hood?
MacOS – Encrypt backups
disk-utilityencryptionmacostime-machine
Related Solutions
No, the backups will not be encrypted automatically, but it's very easy to enable for directly attached disks. Just check "Encrypt Backup Disk" in the Time Machine disk selection settings.
If you're backing up to another Mac, you can use Disk Utility on that Mac to erase non-boot drives and put an encrypted partition on them:
Make sure that your partition scheme is GUID, not Master Boot Record (MBR) or Apple Partition Map.
To enable encryption, the partition map must be changed to GUID. Note that this will make your drive invisible to older PCs and will wipe all of the data on the drive.
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Best Answer
The best answer is to try it yourself. From what I can recall, though, using the encryption option of Time Machine makes an encrypted sparse bundle (a file) on an unencrypted disk, whereas the Disk Utility approach encrypts the entire disk.
Both methods are pretty rock solid (especially for the needs of insignificant consumers), so pick whichever seems more useful.