Apple has launched the new Apple Business Essentials as a subscription service for small businesses. With this service Apple wants to provide device management, support, storage into a single subscription for businesses up to 500 employees.
Apple first announced Apple Business Essentials back in November 2021, and after beta testing it with thousands of small businesses it has now opened the service to all customers in the US.
Along with the service Apple has launched the Apple Business Essentials app that will allow employees of small businesses to install apps that request support.
Apple’s device management features include device setup to employee onboarding and device upgrades. Apple will be providing security, prioritized support and secure data storage and backup under its device management features.
The Collections feature will enable IT personnel to configure devices with settings and apps for individual users, groups and devices. In addition to that when an employee logs into their device with work credentials Collections will automatically push settings including VPN configurations and Wi-Fi passwords to the device.
Apple is also providing a dedicated iCloud account for work, which will allow employees to backup their data, collaborate on files and documents and use secure cloud storage on their devices.
Businesses using the Apple Business Essentials subscription will also have the option to add AppleCare+ for Business Essentials to its plan. When they they get priortized repairs that can be initiated directly from the Apple Business Essentials app.
Later this spring Apple plans to add support for Google Workspace customers while later this summer users will also get the option to deploy Mac apps that are not available in the Mac App Store.
Apple Business Essentials is available with three plans. Businesses can customize plans to support each user with up to 3 devices and up to 2TB storage in iCloud starting at $2.99.
All new customers of this service will get a two months free after signing up.
Update: This article was originally published in November 2021 and was updated on March 31st, 2022.
(Apple)
