Apple announced Apple Business, a new platform combining device management, productivity, and customer outreach tools.
It replaces Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect, offering a single hub to manage devices, employees, communications, and customer engagement on Apple devices.
Apple Business includes mobile device management (MDM) to control settings, security, apps, and user groups centrally. The Apple Business app lets employees install work apps, find contacts, and get support.
New “Blueprints” let admins preset devices with apps and settings for zero-touch setup, enabling employees to use devices right after unboxing. This works with devices bought from Apple or authorized sellers.
The platform offers Managed Apple Accounts with “cryptographic separation” of personal and work data, allowing one device for both without mixing info. Setup can be automated via identity providers like Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID.
Other features include user groups, role assignments, app distribution via the App Store, and an Admin API for large deployments covering devices, users, audits, and MDM data.
Apple Business includes built-in email, calendar, and directory services using custom domains. Businesses can bring or buy domains with calendar sharing and a company directory with contact cards.
For customer engagement, Apple Business manages brand and locations across Apple services, merging Apple Business Connect features.
This offers brand profiles with logos, customizable Apple Maps place cards with photos, hours, and options like ordering or reservations, plus analytics on user interactions. Branding appears in Mail, iCloud Mail, Wallet order tracking, and Tap to Pay on iPhone.
Apple also announced Apple Maps ads launching in the US and Canada this summer, letting businesses create ads atop search results and in a Suggested Places section.
Apple Business launches April 14 in over 200 countries as a free service for new and existing Apple business users, with some features region-limited. Paid plans for extra iCloud storage and AppleCare+ remain.
Apple Business Essentials, Manager, and Connect will be discontinued at launch. Existing data like locations and accounts will transfer automatically. Essentials customers will no longer pay monthly device management fees after the switch.
