11–20 of 48 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The server is only meant for enterprise deployments. It would be pretty hard to do this on a personal level because you need to apply for an enterprise account with Apple, and request a very specific push certificate option.
Anyone can get a push certificate, it's not just businesses, https://identity.apple.com/pushcert/
This seems like the kind of thing Apple should be offering on their own already. But ultimately you're not going to see many enterprises adopt an Apple-only MDM unless they just love vendor lock-in to the most expensive vendor. Negativity aside, I applaud the effort. The MDM space is messy and crowded with bloated products. I hope these guys can at the very least pop the bubble a bit.
Apple has absolutely no desire to go into the device management business. They make the devices, they don't provide IT departments with any in house tools, the entire macOS management ecosystem has risen from a need and it's a mish mash of different vendors / open source tools / approaches to skin the cat that is device management.
This seems like the kind of thing Apple should be offering on their own already. But ultimately you're not going to see many enterprises adopt an Apple-only MDM unless they just love vendor lock-in to the most expensive vendor. Negativity aside, I applaud the effort. The MDM space is messy and crowded with bloated products. I hope these guys can at the very least pop the bubble a bit.
Apple has absolutely no desire to go into the device management business. They make the devices, they don't provide IT departments with any in house tools, the entire macOS management ecosystem has risen from a need and it's a mish mash of different vendors / open source tools / approaches to skin the cat that is device management.
I'm curious do any HN readers manage their personal devices through MDM with their own profiles, and what benefits are you seeing from that?
The server is only meant for enterprise deployments. It would be pretty hard to do this on a personal level because you need to apply for an enterprise account with Apple, and request a very specific push certificate option.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The server is only meant for enterprise deployments. It would be pretty hard to do this on a personal level because you need to apply for an enterprise account with Apple, and request a very specific push certificate option.
Setting up Mobile Device Management itself is not particularly onerous, it's definitely best practice to create a new Apple ID for that purpose, however. A technical individual can already do this easily enough with the freely-available Meraki MDM. The Device Enrollment Program I believe is more complicated and inaccessible to individuals (haven't dealt with this personally), and is quickly becoming a prerequisite fo…
This seems like the kind of thing Apple should be offering on their own already. But ultimately you're not going to see many enterprises adopt an Apple-only MDM unless they just love vendor lock-in to the most expensive vendor. Negativity aside, I applaud the effort. The MDM space is messy and crowded with bloated products. I hope these guys can at the very least pop the bubble a bit.
I think Apple is happy with the current state of MDM servers--several good 3rd-party options, both self-hosted and cloud.
I'm curious do any HN readers manage their personal devices through MDM with their own profiles, and what benefits are you seeing from that?
If you have a lot of devices (think 10+) I guess it could be useful to keep them aligned. It could also be useful as training on how to centrally manage devices.
But I would not recommend using a MDM unless you have a specific reason. Personal devices that you have physical control over are easy to manage locally on the device. Adding a MDM also adds another attack vector, if the MDM is compromised all your devices are at risk.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple has absolutely no desire to go into the device management business. They make the devices, they don't provide IT departments with any in house tools, the entire macOS management ecosystem has risen from a need and it's a mish mash of different vendors / open source tools / approaches to skin the cat that is device management.
Apple is actively trying to sell me MDM services. So they may not be in the business of making it easy, but they're certainly in the business of making money on it.