Whether you have 10 devices or 10,000, it’s easier than ever to manage iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. With Apple Business Manager, devices can be distributed directly to employees and used straight out of the box, leaving manual configuration behind forever.
Introducing Apple Business Manager, a new place for IT teams to automate device deployment, purchase and distribute content, and manage roles in their organisation. Working seamlessly with your Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, Apple Business Manager makes it easy to enrol devices, deploy content and delegate administrative privileges.
Get started with Apple Business Manager
Enrol devices so that they can be set up automatically with MDM.
Purchase apps in bulk and manage licences for users.
Delegate admin privileges and manage content across locations.
Apple Business Manager is now available in 65 countries or regions, with support for device enrolment, volume purchasing and role administration. With multinational support for apps, licences purchased through Apple Business Manager can be assigned to users or devices in any country where the app is available.
All Apple devices have a built-in, secure management framework that enables IT to manage and configure settings and enable certain security features remotely over the air. IT can easily create profiles to set up everything users need to be secure and productive. Manage with a light touch without having to lock down features or disable functionality.
With the secure management framework in iOS, macOS and tvOS, IT can configure and update settings, deploy applications, monitor compliance, query devices, and remotely wipe or lock devices. The framework supports corporate-owned devices as well as personally owned devices.
Discover all the ways you can configure device settings with MDM
MDM supports configuration for apps, accounts and data on each device. This includes integrated features such as password and policy enforcement. Controls remain transparent to employees while ensuring their personal info stays personal. And IT maintains necessary oversight without disrupting the productivity that employees need to succeed.
Whether your business is better suited to a cloud‑based environment or an on‑premises server, MDM solutions are available from a wide range of vendors with a variety of features and pricing, giving you flexibility in how you incorporate Apple devices into your organisation. Each solution uses the Apple management framework in iOS, tvOS and macOS to manage features and settings for each platform.
With the latest version of iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, IT can delay users’ over‑the‑air device updates. This gives them the time and flexibility they need to complete a thorough certification. Once IT has certified a version of each release, they can choose which version users should download and install. Then IT can directly push the update to all employees to ensure they get the latest security features.
With device enrolment through Apple Business Manager, a corporate-owned iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV can be provisioned into your organisation’s MDM solution automatically during setup — straight out of the box. There’s no need to manually configure devices in a central location, and your organisation benefits from a higher level of control and security for employees.
Configure account settings, apps and access to corporate services over the air with automated MDM enrolment. There’s no need for staging services, and no need for IT to physically access each device to complete setup. Users are guided through the activation process with the built-in Setup Assistant. And IT can even streamline the setup process by skipping certain steps like Apple ID, passcode and terms of service screens.
Through device enrolment, businesses are able to supervise corporate-owned iOS and tvOS devices over the air. Using supervision allows greater device management, enabling additional restrictions like disabling iMessage and controlling secure networking features like a global proxy. And now with the latest version of iOS and macOS, IT can manage software updates. On macOS, device enrolment enables you to more easily manage certain security settings like Kernel Extension Loading.
New and existing device purchases can be enrolled into Apple Business Manager, whether purchased directly from Apple or through participating Apple Authorised Resellers. Setting the default MDM server by device type makes it even easier to automate assignments for iPad, iPhone and Mac. And with iOS 11 and tvOS 11, any iPad, iPhone or Apple TV can be brought into Apple Business Manager manually with Apple Configurator 2.
Apple Business Manager makes it simple to find, buy and distribute content in volume to meet your every business need. You can even purchase customised apps built specifically for your business by third-party developers. And when apps are distributed through MDM, there’s no need to use redemption codes or Apple IDs to get content onto each device.
With Apple Business Manager, buying apps in volume for both macOS and iOS has never been easier. When app licences are no longer needed, they can be reassigned to another device or employee. You can also purchase customised apps built specifically for your business by third‑party developers. And by purchasing Volume Credit, you can use purchase orders to buy content through your reseller.
Apps purchased through Apple Business Manager can be distributed easily through MDM to users or devices in any country that the apps are available in. Apple Business Manager now allows you to migrate your Volume Purchase Program accounts into one centralised view, making it easier to transfer licences between locations within your organisation.
Once devices are set up, IT can manage and protect corporate data thanks to built-in security features and additional controls available through MDM. Common frameworks and settings across apps enable configuration and ongoing management of settings.
MDM solutions allow management at a granular level without the need for containers, keeping corporate data from accidentally leaking out. With Managed Open In, IT can set restrictions to keep attachments or documents from being opened in unmanaged destinations, and vice versa. IT also has tools that allow corporate apps to be removed from a device without erasing personal data, or they can initiate a complete remote wipe or lock if necessary. And on macOS, built-in security features let IT encrypt data, protect devices from malware and enforce security settings without the need for third-party tools.
Thanks to a common framework and controlled ecosystem, apps on Apple platforms are secure by design. Our developer programs verify the identity of every developer, and apps are verified by the system before they launch. Features like signing, app extensions, entitlements and sandboxing provide even greater levels of security. Data can be protected in transit through technologies like per‑app VPN.
iOS provides a native ability to configure settings and manage polices within applications. With Managed App Configuration, employees can use apps straight away while IT is assured that data within those apps is handled properly.
On macOS, MDM solutions are used to push down preferences and scripts, which lets you configure settings in applications and keep non-App Store apps and other software up to date.
Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right, so every Apple product is designed to use on-device processing wherever possible, limit the collection and use of data, provide transparency and control over your information, and build on a strong foundation of security.
When creating device management tools, employee privacy is considered at every stage of development. Privacy is as important at work as it is at home, even when team members use their personal devices for work. The MDM protocol allows IT to interact with an Apple device, but only a limited amount of information and settings are exposed. The same features that keep data secure in corporate-managed apps also protect a user’s personal content from entering the corporate data stream.
Learn the basics of device deployment, security and Apple services. Or browse deep technical references on iOS, macOS and MDM.
Learn the basics of deployment as well as advanced features that help protect data and manage updates.
macOS Deployment Overview (PDF)
Learn about security features for iOS and macOS as well as key Apple services.
Learn about Apple Business Manager as well as key AppleCare programs.
Get in-depth technical details about iOS and macOS, as well as the built-in management framework.