The latest update for macOS Sonoma has yet another bug, this time causing havoc for users' saved files in iCloud Drive.
Normally, when you save files within your iCloud Drive all the different versions of that file will be saved for future reference. So, if you’ve been working on a big project or assignment, you can look through all the versions of your file if you need to.
This is the case even when you remove a file from the drive; the past versions of it will still be available to you if and when you need them. Unfortunately for some users, this new bug erases all the previous saved versions when a file is removed from the iCloud Drive – which could mean all your work is gone.
Howard Oakley from The Eclectic Light Company stated in a post that users of macOS 14.4 who have enabled the ‘Optimize Mac Storage’ setting should be warned that there’s a risk of losing all their saved versions of a file if they choose to delete or move it from the iCloud Drive. Oakley notes that this issue “certainly doesn’t happen in Ventura” and that when tested in the earlier 14.3 updates did not observe the problem either.
Clutching my saved files
If you’re worried about your own saved files, don’t! You can try and curb the potential threat by either simply not updating your operating system to macOS 14.4 if you haven’t already, or disabling the ‘Optimise Mac Storage’ setting. This way, your files won’t be booted off iCloud Drive and neither will any previous saved versions.
This bug is merely the latest problem to plague the macOS Sonoma 14.4 update, following reports that the update was breaking some users' USB hubs and even taking down printers as well. So, you’ll want to be as careful as possible if you’ve already updated to the latest version of Sonoma.
So far there haven’t been numerous reports of the bug going around, which means it is likely not a widespread issue just yet. We’ve yet to hear any word from Apple regarding these bugs, which can be interpreted as good news in itself – if Apple hasn’t said anything yet, that’s a good sign that this is a minor issue that will probably be quickly and quietly resolved in a further update.
Microsoft’s software encryption for SSDs, BitLocker, has been found to be slowing down SSD performance by up to 45% in Windows 11 Pro. BitLocker is enabled automatically when Windows 11 Pro is installed and set up, and is intended to increase the security of SSD-related processes.
Eager to analyze the issue, TomsHardware tested the feature and found that SSD speeds could be seriously affected when running some applications.
Apparently, this happens because the software-based BitLocker constantly prompts encryption and decryption processes with data on your SSD while your computer carries out read and write processes. So, as your computer extracts and puts away files and data from your SSD as you go about your business, each of these inward and outward actions from the SSD is coupled with an additional encryption or decryption process that kicks off automatically every time.
A pcwelt.de article (translated by PCWorld) points the finger at Windows 11 developers including the encryption software as part of the installation process of Windows 11 Pro. According to pcwelt.de, many modern SSDs have their own built-in hardware-based encryption processes, and that results in all decryption and encryption processes being handled by SSD itself. Regardless, Bitlocker is activated when Windows 11 Pro is set up without giving users the option to opt-out or disable it.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
What is the heart of the problem and does it affect you?
It’s speculated that Microsoft insists on doing this because if it doesn’t, then it must give up control of encryption to SSD manufacturers. This means that Microsoft would have to depend on these SSD manufacturers to manage such a vital feature for Windows 11 Pro users, and, in recent years, there have been vulnerability issues in the hardware encryption code created by the SSD manufacturers.
These manufacturers have been attentive and patched these vulnerabilities, but perhaps understandably, Microsoft doesn’t want to have to rely on a third-party to guarantee users SSD security.
It seems like Windows 11 Home isn’t affected by this specific issue because BitLocker encryption isn’t supported.
To find out if your SSD is affected by this problem, you can do the following:
Open the Windows 11 Pro Command line with administrator rights.
Enter the following command: manage-bde -status
This should open up the BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool which allows you to analyze all the drives in your computer.
If you open Conversion Status, you’ll be able to figure out how your SSD data is encrypted. Next, if you look at Encryption Method, you should see what type of encryption is used on a particular drive: software encryption (“XTS-AES”) or hardware encryption (“Hardware Encryption”). “XTS-AES” means that BitLocker is enabled and is running software encryption, while “Fully decrypted” means BitLock is disabled and encryption processes take place in the SSD.
When users use programs that greatly involve the SSD, because every in and out process of the SSD is compounded with an extra encryption or decryption process, the SSD has to handle more processes altogether and experiences greater strain. Microsoft may be working on a software patch to address this whole issue in Windows 11 Pro, but it’s unconfirmed if this is currently being developed.
(Image credit: Startup Stock Photos / Pexels)
How to configure BitLocker in Windows 11 Pro
To speed up your device, you might consider disabling BitLocker, but you have to make an informed decision, as BitLocker and the extra security it provides is beneficial to those who use corporate and business devices, and those who find themselves travelling often, and find that they’re in situations where there’s heightened risk of the device being stolen in general.
If you have BitLocker installed, because it’s integrated with your system on a software and operating system level, you can only access the computer’s data by entering the Windows account details tied to that specific Windows 11 Pro device.
If corporate and business devices come with Windows 11 Pro, then it’s likely that they have default settings, and that these devices are experiencing this specific type of slowdown.
After careful consideration and understanding, if you need higher-level data protection and you still want to get rid of this SSD encryption protection, then you can deactivate BitLocker by taking the following steps. Make sure that you understand clearly what level of encryption you need before you do this!
Open the Windows 11 Pro Command line with administrator rights
Enter the following command: manage-bde -off C:
C: here represents whatever drive you want to turn off BitLocker for, and if it’s not C: then you need to change it to the drive you want to remove BitLocker from. After that, you will need to restart your computer to complete the process of disabling BitLocker.
I personally would only consider disabling BitLocker if you don’t use your computer in any work capacity, or if you don’t have any data or files on it that you consider particularly sensitive. However, this is still useful information in terms of understanding more about the inner workings of your computer and digital security.
As highlighted in our Meta Quest 3 review, the new VR headset is bringing a lot of improvements to the VR world, but for Oculus Quest 2 owners it’s also bringing one major downside – your headset’s storage space might soon feel a lot smaller than it did before.
To take advantage of the Quest 3’s improved Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, its 8GB of RAM, and its full-color mixed reality, VR app developers will be releasing updates to their software (Meta said it’s coming to over 50 during Meta Connect 2023). However, as reported by UploadVR, these updated files won’t be exclusive to Quest 3 owners.
People using a Quest 2 will also be forced to download the new, larger file sizes, but here’s the kicker: they won't be able to benefit from any of the improvements stored in those bigger files. And the size increases aren’t insignificant – for example, Red Matter 2 is jumping from 5.6GB to 9.1GB.
Just under 3.5GB might not seem like a lot, but if you’ve been a long-running Oculus Quest 2 user and have an original 64GB model (as this writer does) then 3.5GB is 5.5% of your total storage space – or 6.2% of the available space after you factor in the 7.5GB taken up by the Quest 2 OS.
Thankfully this might not be an issue forever. While developers currently don’t have the option to release distinct Quest 2 and Quest 3 versions of their VR experiences, they can release a separate, simplified version for the Quest 1.
Meta didn’t provide an exact timeline, but it did reportedly tell UploadVR that it has plans to “extend this [facility to release distinct versions of apps] to Quest Pro and Quest 3 in the future.” So hopefully Quest 2 owners will soon be able to reclaim any storage space that has been snatched away from them.
In the meantime, be prepared to have to delete some apps from your Quest 2’s digital library. Alternatively, you could check out the Meta Quest 3 and see if it’s worth upgrading too – if you have to download the bigger files, you might at least take advantage of the benefits they bring.
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