Monica Rathbun explains a new feature coming to SQL Server:
As I discussed in part 3 there are many roads blocks the can stop the implementation of Always Encrypted (AE). In the current available versions of SQL Server 2016 and 2017, along with Azure SQL Database, the cost of using AE was way too high for many companies. There are so many code changes needed to implement AE that moving to it is not cost effective for them. Microsoft recognizes this and has found a better way to handle things like aggregations, range comparison, LIKE predicates, ORDER BYs, and other search criteria with the introduction of Secure Enclaves. For the client discussed in part 1-3 this will make all the difference.
Per MSDN “An enclave is a protected region of memory that acts as a trusted execution environment. An enclave appears as a black box to the containing process and to other processes running on the machine. There is no way to view the data or the code inside the enclave from the outside, even with a debugger.”
If that’s a bit confusing, check out Monica’s explanation as well.