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I have a MacBook Pro w/ Retina (2012 I believe) which has a firmware password which I don't know. Since it is a retina I can't use the remove RAM trick.

If I go to reformat and reinstall the MBP will the firmware password be removed?

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    Reboot into recovery mode by holding CMD + R while restarting. When Utilities loads, click the "Utilities" menu, then select "Firmware Password Utility". Click "Turn off Firmware Password." Note this may, of course, prompt you for a password, but it also may not. Alternatively, contact Apple and be ready to provide proof of ownership for your Mac, or consider purchasing a replacement HDD and setting up a USB boot drive for an Internet restore of OS X.
    – Rampant
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 16:29

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No, recovery mode isn’t available while a firmware lock is engaged.

Your only option is to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) or one of their Genius Bars. The process to bypass a firmware lock changed a few years ago and now requires that a certified technician (ACMT) contact Apple with the Mac's information (typically proof of the original purchaser granting permission), which Apple will then process and use to remove the firmware lock.

You can find a list of AASPs using Apple's locate tool, https://locate.apple.com. Select the service option and search for a provider in your location.

Even with older Macs, where the firmware password could be bypassed by changing the RAM configuration and resetting the PRAM, the firmware lock would persist after wiping the hard drive and re-installing the OS. This behavior still exists today.

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No, the firmware password is hardware specific, it has nothing to do with the installed operating system. Also, Apple may be hesitant to assist you in removing it. Situations where someone has a laptop which is locked out with a firmware password which they don't know is frequently indicative of a lost/stolen laptop. Imagine if you lost your laptop which had a firmware password, how would you feel about the thief being helped out by Apple?

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This solution is applied to the Intel processor in my MacBook Pro 2018.

You could use the terminal to try the following commands to solve your problem. However, I want to emphasise the necessity of removing the firmware password so that you may access any start-up items like Recovery Mode, Internet Recovery Mode, Safe Mode, and so on without having to enter a forgotten or lost firmware password.

# delete password; laptop restart needed
sudo firmwarepasswd -delete

Before removing the firmware password, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disc Access to enable Terminal and optionally disable FileVault. Revert to the original settings after deleting firmware password and rebooting.

If you want to set a firmware password for security reasons, do the following, but be sure to securely store the password somewhere for easy retrieval since if the password is set, you will be requested to input it on any start-up recovery modes.

# set a new firmware password
sudo firmwarepasswd -setpasswd

# check if firmware password is set
sudo firmwarepasswd -check

# verify the firmware password
sudo firmwarepasswd -verify
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