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One of the biggest upgrades in Apple’s 2025 fall releases for IT administrators is automating migrations between device management services. Before this update, switching platforms meant a lot of manual work, scripting, edge cases, and user disruption. With iOS 26 and macOS 26, Apple now supports direct migrations without wiping devices or losing app data. For IT teams that work with Apple, this is a huge win.
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, thousands of Macs, and thousands of iPads, Bradley highlights ways Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, share stories from the trenches of IT management, and explore how Apple could improve its products for IT departments.
Why migrate device management services?
There are plenty of reasons to migrate to a new device management system. Sometimes it’s about cost control. Sometimes it’s about better features, or your old system hasn’t kept up with innovation. Maybe your company is acquiring another company, and you need to integrate those devices. Whatever the reason, this fall, Apple will give you the tools to make a clean switch that’s very straightforward.
Apple’s new migration supports moving iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro. You’re good to go as long as the devices are enrolled using Automated Device Enrollment. Mac also supports profile-based enrollment.
What the new migration flow looks like
If you’re using Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager, you’ll see new options to set a migration deadline, notify users, and assign a new device management server. The old system is removed, the new one kicks in, and the process begins.
What users see during iOS migration
When a device is set to migrate, users get notified beforehand. Apple built the experience so it doesn’t feel like something broke. If a migration deadline is set, users see daily reminders, and those speed up as the deadline gets closer. During the final hour, alerts come at 60, 30, 10, and 1 minute.
Migration is enforced if the user doesn’t take action by the deadline. On iPhone and iPad, this means the device automatically restarts and re-enrolls in the new system. If the device is offline after the restart, a Wi-Fi picker shows up to help them reconnect. Apple also added a fallback “Choose Wi-Fi Network” link if enrollment fails because of network issues.
Unlike macOS, there’s no full-screen blocking prompt. The process will happen in the background with as little disruption as possible.
What users see during macOS migration
The experience is a little more front and center on the Mac side. When migration kicks in, users get a full-screen prompt that can’t be dismissed. That prompt walks them through the process and helps ensure everything completes properly. If there’s a managed user on the device, they authorize the migration. It’s designed to be secure and hands-on without creating confusion for the employee.
What gets preserved during migration?
If your new device management system pushes the same apps before the device finishes setup, everything stays put, and all app data is preserved. Users don’t have to re-download anything, and nothing gets wiped. From their point of view, it’s like upgrading something on the backend of your network.
Any catches?
There are a few things to watch for. Devices must be running the latest version of iOS or macOS (iOS/macOS 26 or newer required). Manual Apple Configurator enrollments need to pass the 30-day provisional period, and migrations don’t support Apple Business Essentials at this time. If you’re using Essentials, you’ll need to continue managing migrations manually until its added.
App licenses are another thing to keep in mind. If you’re using volume-purchased apps, remove the token from the old system and upload it to the new one as soon as possible. You’ve got about 30 days of grace, but expired tokens start revoking access after that. In my opinion, this is going to be one of the easiest things to forget to do. MAKE A NOTE.
Finally, a big thing to keep in mind is that if you are enrolling devices to a Wi-Fi network via a configuration profile, that’ll be removed before the new profile is added. Users will need to connect to a network to finalize the process manually.
Wrap up
This update makes switching device management providers much more realistic for companies that felt locked in because of all the manual work involved. You no longer have to choose between better solutions and a massive migration project. If your team has been stuck with legacy workflows because the path looked too painful, that excuse is gone once your devices upgrade to Apple’s 2025 fall releases.
It’s not totally turn-key. You still need good planning, proper communication, solid token management, and a clear understanding of what’s happening in the background. This upgrade is welcome news and a huge win for IT teams managing large Apple fleets. I’ll have more to say on the business implications in an upcoming Apple @ Work column.
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, and 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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