Apple in the enterprise: highlights and expectations as 2024 winds down

Apple has had a busy year in enterprise tech. Apple Intelligence, spatial computing, the war to protect the user experience against excessive regulation, security, privacy and continued improvements to Apple Silicon and valuable OS improvements for enterprise deployment have occupied much of its time. With this in mind, it’s a good time to speak with Apple device management and security leaders from Jamf, Kandji, Jumpcloud, and Fleet to find out what mattered most in 2024, and what they expect in 2025.

Fleet: Crowdstrike was important — to Apple

I spoke with Fleet CEO Mike McNeil. Fleet is an open-source MDM provider that now supports iPhones, iPads, Macs, Windows, and Linux devices.

In 2024, what were the three most important Apple-related moments for enterprise users?

“One of the most significant Apple-related events occurred despite not directly affecting Apple itself. This was the CrowdStrike out(r)age.”

“Apple’s ongoing innovation with VisionOS not only challenges businesses to think creatively and find innovative ways to work but also enhances accessibility in the workforce.

“Apple’s first release of AI capabilities, allowing users to access them without privacy violations or security issues, is a pretty significant milestone. It’s like the promise of Siri is finally coming true.”

Looking ahead to 2025, what do you expect will be the biggest concern(s)/challenge(s) for Apple in the enterprise?  “As more organizations enroll more personal devices and BYOD programs, the attack surface for adversaries expands significantly — meaning, if you manage to pop one employee’s phone, you can now access whatever they could on their phone,” McNeil said. “Consequently, people who manage devices need to invest more in preventing both traditional malware-based attacks and sophisticated social engineering tactics.”

What do you think enterprise users most need from Apple that it does not yet provide? “A comprehensive and robust declarative management framework that enables devices to maintain a known good state irrespective of their network connectivity or environmental conditions.

“Apple would be very well served by investing more in getting people to adopt existing features rather than adding more product managers and names for slight variations of the same things.”

How do you see the future of Apple in business across the next 12 months? “Apple is such an amazing company. We are only going to see more and more Macs in the enterprise this year, as user choice programs and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs evolve and become the standard practice rather than an exception. With Managed Apple IDs catching on, we’ll see more secondary computing devices like Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro in enterprise environments.

Jumpcloud: Identity, security, and AI

I got the following thoughts from Joel Rennich, senior vice president for product management at Jumpcloud. The company earlier this year published survey data that shows a big switch in favor of using Apple devices in the enterprise. They expect this to continue.

In 2024, what were the three most important Apple-related moments for enterprise users? 

“The introduction of Apple Intelligence — not so much in the sense that it will change the world, although it might, but more so in how it’s challenging Enterprise IT departments on how to respond to a new way of doing AI. With Apple’s use of on-device and Private Cloud Compute processing, a new dimension has been added to thinking about how to engage with AI with sensitive data.

“Changes to how Managed Apple Accounts, formerly known as Managed Apple IDs, are created and used. Beyond a name change, MAAs have become a lot more functional to the point where most enterprises should be able to start using them. With the introduction of OpenID Connect Federation (OIDC) and System for Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM) flows to Apple Business Manager — and giving organizations a lot more control over how MAAs are created in the first place — I expect adoption of Apple accounts to go up significantly. There’s still more work to be done, and organizations will still get annoyed by some of Apple’s insistence on being Apple, but most IT departments will be able to make good use of the changes today.

“While this one isn’t entirely of Apple’s making, they are certainly championing the use of passkeys across the board. The speed at which passkeys have taken over OTP and push as MFA or as full on authentication has been astonishing. If you’ve never used a passkey on your iPhone to sign in to a website on your PC, you should run, not walk, to experience that. It’s a simple thing, using a QR code with some Bluetooth help, but the security underlying all of this and the general ease of use of the process is astounding.”

Looking ahead to 2025, what do you expect will be the biggest concern(s)/challenge(s) for Apple in the enterprise?  “While there are a number of global threats and other issues that impact Apple as much as other vendors, the biggest challenge for Apple in the enterprise is Apple itself. This is the same as it has been since Apple started making inroads into enterprise with the original iPhone. The aspects that make Apple great in the consumer space are many times inherently at odds with what enterprises are looking for, and in most cases Apple refuses to compromise on aspects like user privacy and experience.

“I don’t expect Apple to change much here. As it continues to expand its enterprise offering, customers will consistently ask for…even more controls and abilities to take away from the experience end users expect from Apple products.”

What do you think enterprise users most need from Apple that it does not yet provide? “Apple has made real strides with their Platform SSO functionality. However, it still doesn’t do the most basic function that enterprises are asking for, which is the automatic creation of the first new user on the system. Instead, customers still have to cobble together a combination of a number solutions to achieve this. It’s clear that Apple was intending PSSO for a different set of problems — the establishment of a SSO session from a user login — but customers still need this functionality.”

“[Users also need] a consistent method to enforce system updates. Apple keeps almost getting this right, but then missing something important. While Declarative Device Management can help, there’s still a lot of consistency in the process that’s lacking. This is a serious miss for Apple as they control the entire chain here.”

How do you see the future of Apple in business across the next 12 months? “Apple will do fine. With the recent refresh of almost their entire hardware lineup to the M4 and consistent improvements to the software, Apple will continue to grow incrementally in the enterprise space. Mobile will still be the biggest reason that enterprises need to ensure they understand what Apple is doing, but solving for mobile pretty much ensures a good experience for any Mac users.

“Apple devices will continue to be at the upper end of the hardware quality spectrum and the MacBook Air will become even more attractive with the M4 chip and the price points staying low. The Apple Vision Pro won’t break out into the mainstream in 2025, but Apple will continue to refine, and some developers will continue to work with it as they look for a compelling reason to make VR/AR more commonplace.”

Kandji: Device management, spatial computing, and AI

Weldon Dodd, senior vice president of global partnerships at Kandji made four substantial predictions for the coming year, supplementing his expectations around enterprise deployment of Apple-supporting AI from earlier in 2024. 

Hybrid work will drive innovation in device management: “The hybrid work model will hit a tipping point, as employers push for more in-office presence while employees increasingly demand flexibility. This growing divide will catalyze innovation in device management. Many companies have already invested in streamlining onboarding and remote support, but now the challenge will be adapting those systems to also serve in-office environments. The key will be prioritizing automation and efficiency, which reduces the need for manual fixes and enhances the user experience across all work settings. As businesses navigate this tension, the future of device management will focus on creating seamless and flexible solutions that balance both employee autonomy and the need for in-person collaboration.”

Spatial computing becomes (more) mainstream: “Apple Vision Pro will continue to evolve in 2025, becoming the more accessible productivity-focused tool that Apple has always wanted. Apple is expected to make the device more affordable, widening its appeal to consumers, while also maintaining its strength in workspaces — especially with the recent software updates that allow for ultra-wide displays and seamless Mac integration.

“This shift could change how consumers interact with their devices, bringing spatial computing closer to the mainstream. In addition, rumors of a new Siri-powered ‘kitchen device’ suggest Apple aspires to make daily life even more convenient with smart, hands-free solutions that leverage the growing capabilities of Apple Intelligence. Together, these innovations will drive deeper integration of Apple’s ecosystem across both personal and professional spaces.”

Businesses will use proprietary LLMs and RAG to unlock their own data: “We are going to see a big shift as businesses start using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and LLMs with their corporate data. Rather than relying solely on third-party models like OpenAI, companies will begin asking these models more specific questions about their business, such as, ‘Is there anomalous behavior happening on this device we manage,’ or ‘What does this data tell me about our device management security?’

“By connecting LLMs with internal data, businesses will be able to get answers that aren’t just based on general world knowledge, but are much more tailored to their needs. As companies make this move, they’ll also need to pay close attention to data governance and privacy, especially as regulations like GDPR implement stricter guidelines regarding the handling of customer data. If done right, this approach could unlock valuable insights, but businesses must balance the power of AI with well-established data practices to keep afloat.”

Apple’s M4 Chip will enable on-device AI: “Apple’s M4 chip will make on-device AI the new standard, enabling more AI processing to happen directly on devices rather than relying on the cloud. For consumers, this shift means faster, more personalized experiences with greater privacy. This is because less data will need to be shared or stored remotely. For businesses, the impact could be substantial, particularly related to Apple-managed accounts, making it easier to deliver tailored services.

“And for the business user that requires top level speed and performance — think video editing, software deployment or AI development using LLMs — the M4 is going to be untouchable by the competition.”

What Jamf sees coming…

A veteran of the Apple device management space, Jamf also focused on AI and the part it will play in the coming year. The company recently introduced a host of new tools for Apple device management and deployment.

“With generative AI quickly becoming a pervasive fixture in the technology landscape, businesses are reacting with catch-all policies to restrict usage and control how sensitive information and intellectual property flows outside the organization’s data protection boundary,” said Michael Covington, vice president of portfolio strategy. “For many, this means blanket policies forbidding the use of AI until reviewed by an oversight board.

“While oversight is good, it can significantly delay the adoption of useful tools if the process is not streamlined to allow for timely decision-making. The recent release of Apple Intelligence serves as a good case study on how ‘AI’ keywords can trigger restrictive business policies, despite an implementation that keeps private data on-device and includes controls to govern the use of third-party AI models.

“In order to enable business leaders to more effectively cope with the onslaught of ‘AI-enabled’ tools — and to minimize an oversight bottleneck — the industry will need to develop a set of foundational rubrics to guide in more timely assessments of AI technologies. As a result, I predict we will see a renewed focus on data classification labels, a better understanding of AI processing locations, and a demand for confidentiality assertions from vendors as private data traverses their infrastructure.

“As the industry transitions to an application-driven phase of AI, it is imperative that organizations be equipped to make thoughtful and timely decisions about how the technology can be used responsibly to drive business objectives.”

“As genAI becomes demystified, the true effectiveness and value of solutions for enterprises will become clearer,” said Jamf CIO Linh Lam. “(Many) companies quickly entered the genAI market over the past year or two. It’s a crowded space that can easily overwhelm even leaders of technology companies who are looking to select the right genAI solution for their businesses. In 2025, while the hype cycle will continue to evolve, we’ll see the more effective solutions surface and more customers focusing on solutions that bring the most real value to their businesses.

“As with any ‘hot new tech’ on the block, the buzz around this latest emerging technology will start to calm, and we’ll start to see genAI mature. We’ll start to see what value these tools can provide for businesses, and which perform better than the others. It’s going to be a year of cutting through the noise, and those who can break through that will be the companies that stick around for years to come.”

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