BUSINESS

Apple’s New Business Essentials Program Is More than You May Think

And Apple has been preparing this for a long time

Apple recently announced a new “Business Essentials” product for small businesses. It’s available for free as a beta right now, but final pricing will be from $2.99 to $12.99 monthly per user. That pricing doesn’t include AppleCare support, which they say will be available later.

So what is it? Basically, it’s an MDM (Mobile Device Management). Apple bought Fleetsmith, an MDM company, in 2020 and it seems that Fleetsmith software is the base of this offering.

What’s an MDM?

If you have used Screentime for yourself or a child, that is a limited form of MDM. Screentime inherited some of its features from the Parental Controls feature that Apple introduced in 2009, so Apple is no stranger to this technology. Both allow control of a device, limiting the software used, settings changes, and little more. A full MDM extends those features and provides central management.

Apple and Business

Apple is not unaccustomed to working with businesses, small and large. For quite a few…