Apple School Manager (for education customers) and Apple Business Manager (for non-education customers) are free services Apple provide for assisting with the automated enrolment of Apple devices, and distribution of managed content.
Important Considerations
- Either of these services can take two weeks (or more) to be fully available, from initial sign up to full enrolment.
- As part of the process an Apple Representative will call the number provided in order to verify your identity. If they can't get an answer, or they can't get through to you, this can add a further delay to the process.
- At least once per year (around September / October) and occasionally other times (March / April) you will be notified of an update to the Terms and Conditions of service. Whilst these are pending, devices cannot be assigned for deployment, and Apps will not be deployed. You should Review and (if possible) accept these as soon as you are notified.
- You will need to have your Institute's / Company's DUNS number and VAT number (if applicable) ready for the sign up process. You should also have either your Apple Customer Number or the Reseller ID number from where you purchased your devices from.
Requirements
In light of the above considerations, we would strongly suggest the below steps are followed to create an Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager instance:
- Create an email alias or distribution group called "deploy@[your domain]". This will allow you to move the Apple ID easier if the responsible person / team leaves or is reassigned.
- Navigate to https://school.apple.com or https://business.apple.com and start the enrolment process
- Enter the required details for the primary contact
- Configure 2 Factor Authentication for the deployment Apple ID
- Once you have full access, navigate to the "Apps and Books" section and buy a few free iOS App (if using iOS) and / or free macOS App (if using macOS) licenses.
If you require further assistance or support, please contact our support team.