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Apple waited a long time to roll out Managed Apple IDs (now known as Managed Apple Accounts), and in the process, it created a problem that’s now deeply embedded in many organizations. For years, employees used personal Apple IDs with their work email addresses, because there wasn’t another option. IT teams had no visibility, no control, and no good way to untangle the mess. That all started to change a few years ago, but with WWDC 25 and the fall software updates, Apple is finally giving IT visibility into solving the problem.
About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.
This change tackles a long-standing headache where employees used [email protected] for their personal Apple ID. Apple is now giving IT teams the ability to download a report that lists every Apple ID using the organization’s domain, even if those accounts were not created through Apple Business Manager. I get why many employees did this, though. They’d need an Apple ID to download Mac App Store apps, and they didn’t want to sign into their personal Apple ID. They also might have wanted to use iMessage to chat with customers, etc.
With this new visibility and reporting, Apple is adding a guided transition flow to help those users move to a proper Managed Apple Account. Once IT locks the domain, users will be walked through the update process. It’ll certainly eliminate some frustration when a company begins rolling out Managed Apple Accounts and can give teams a chance to proactively reach out to employees on a transition option.
New restrictions with personal Apple accounts and company devices
Apple is also rolling out a new restriction that allows IT teams to block personal accounts from signing in on company-owned hardware. It works during Setup Assistant and inside System Settings. That is a great upgrade for organizations that have strict compliance concerns. I personally am not a fan of signing into my personal Apple account on a company laptop, but I see why people might want to.
Wrap up
There’s really no good way to solve this problem. Apple should have deployed Managed Accounts 15 years ago, but they didn’t, and it’s time to pay the technical debt. Managed Apple Accounts offer some great features, but the transition can be tough when teams make the switch.
Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.
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