How businesses will benefit from macOS Sonoma and iOS 17

Apple’s upcoming operating systems, macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17, are packed with new features and improvements that are designed to make businesses more productive, secure, and efficient than ever when using Apple devices.

We selected some of the improvements we believe will have the greatest impact on the productivity, deployment, management, and security of Apple devices used at work.

1. Productivity:

• Enhanced video conferencing: Both macOS Sonoma and iOS17 include new features that make video conferencing more effective, engaging, and fun. For example, macOS Sonoma introduces a new Presenter Overlay feature that allows users to present their work while still being visible on the video call. iOS17, on the other hand, introduces Reactions (also available on macOS Sonoma), which allow users to share their thoughts and feelings during video calls with emojis and other animated stickers.
• Safari Profiles: Safari Profiles will allow users to create multiple, separate browsing experiences within the same browser. Each profile has its own set of settings, including browsing history, cookies, extensions, and favorites. This means that users can have one profile for personal browsing, one for work, and one for anything else.
• Web Apps: Safari for macOS Sonoma also introduces an amazing new feature that will have a great impact on how we work with Apple devices. Safari now let’s users to create web apps that will look and behave as normal apps, for any website. So, all those pinned tabs on Safari can now become an independent app and be part of the dock, have its own window, and much more.
• Video Conferencing for AppleTV: for those business using Apple devices, the AppleTV became a fundamental part of all conference rooms, allowing users to quickly and easily share their screen for presentations and much more. Now, the AppleTV on your conference rooms will serve a new and important purpose – video conferencing. The upcoming tvOS 17 will bring FaceTime to AppleTVs, and any other video conferencing provider will also be able to develop AppleTV apps for their solutions. Cisco Webex and Zoom are expected to support AppleTVs later this year and we are confident the other main providers will follow similar schedules.

2. Deployment:

• Shortcut integration with Apple MDMs: With the introduction of macOS Sonoma and iOS 17, IT administrators will gain a powerful deployment tool when provisioning devices with Apple Configurator 2. Now Shortcut actions will allow IT Administrators to automate several tasks as part of provisioning new Apple devices for work and create really streamlined workflows. But the best part is that Shortcut actions can also be used to interact with the company MDM and automatically update information such as asset tags, department, and much more.
• Minimum OS version: All IT admins and employees who have deployed new or erased Apple devices know that the chance of the OS version first loaded to be the latest version available is low. So right out off the bat, the device is already outdated, creating security and compliance issues and risks at the first use. This ends with macOS Sonoma and iOS 17. Moving forward, companies can leverage their Apple-specific MDM to require a minimum operating system version for the completion of the device deployment. If the device is not compliant with the MDM requirement, the user will be guided during the device setup through a process of updating their device. So, when the device is finally deployed and ready to use, it will already be running the latest OS version with all critical security patches and compatibility features. 
• Return to Service: This feature is especially great for all companies using Apple devices in workflows that require constant erasing and redeployment, such as retail, hospitals, manufacturing, and mobile fleets. In all those cases, when an iPad or iPhone need to be erased and redeployed, the user needs to manually interact with the device and navigate through several setup steps, starting with connecting to the Wi-Fi. Even considering that with the use of a good Apple-specific MDM most Setup Assistant steps can be skipped, there are still critical steps that require user interaction and take time to complete. With the introduction of iOS 17, companies can leverage compatible Apple-specific MDMs to automate the erase and redeploy process for a truly zero-touch experience. Compatible Apple-specific MDM solutions will be able to send a remote erase command with additional information which allows the device to reset, securely erase all data, connect to Wi-Fi, enroll back into the MDM, and get back to the Home Screen, ready to be used. This feature will also be very important for customers migrating to a new and better Apple MDM. They can use Return to Service to fully automate the migration for all iOS and iPadOS devices with no need for any user interaction.

3. Management:

• Apple Watch Device Management: Until now, the only Apple OS that could not be managed remotely by companies using an Apple-specific MDM was watchOS. With watchOS 10, this will no longer be the case. With the upcoming update to watchOS, companies will also be able to remotely manage and protect Apple Watches used at work as they already do for the iPhone, iPad, Mac and AppleTV. And right out of the gate, a large set of remote features will be available for watchOS, making it almost as powerful as currently managing an iPhone.
• OS Updates: On top of now being able to require minimum OS version when deploying Apple devices as mentioned above, by using a compatible Apple MDM, the upcoming OS versions will also materially improve the efficacy of OS updates. Based on MDM configurations, when a new OS update is available, companies will now be able to define a limit date for the update to be completed on all their Apple fleet. Once this is configured, the user will receive alerts with increased frequency requiring them to perform the update at the most convenient time before the limit date. If not performed by the user, at the limit date the update will then be automatically enforced regardless of any user action.
• Improvements on Platform SSO: Last year, macOS Ventura introduced Platform SSO, allowing users to authenticate once with an account from the organization’s Identity Provider and get access to all other websites and apps leveraging the same IdP. With macOS Sonoma, Platform SSO goes even further with exciting new capabilities that allow users to use their corporate identity in even more places in macOS. Platform SSO now also supports on-demand creation of a local account, when a new user authenticates at the login window using a credential from their organization’s Identity Provider. All the Platform SSO current and new features can be configured and enabled by using a compatible Apple-specific MDM and a compatible Identity Provider.

4. Security:

• Enforce Disk Encryption – FileVault: Making sure FileVault is enabled before any company data is downloaded on the Mac is a very critical security control, not only to protect company sensitive data in case a Mac is lost or stolen, but also to achieve security certifications, such as SOC or ISO. Until macOS 13, it was only possible to enforce FileVault after the device deployment was complete, and the user had to restart the Mac to activate it, allowing for long delays and high data loss risk until FileVault was finally enabled. With macOS Sonoma, your Apple MDM can be used to require FileVault enablement during the Setup Assistant, so when the deployment is complete and the user gains access to the Home Screen, FileVault is already enabled so any data will be protected since first device use.
• Network Relay: Network relays are secure proxies that enable only configured devices to connect to specific company resources, severs, and applications. With the upcoming OS updates, compatible Apple-specific MDMs will be able to remotely and automatically configure on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS, Network Relays, ensuring that only authorized devices can access company resources, without having to rely on any user interaction. For companies using Relays, this feature provides a great combination of enforcement and convenience, both highly important for the success of any security tool or strategy.
• VPN on AppleTV: Companies using a high-quality Apple MDM can already deploy and enforce VPN on all corporate devices in a very efficient, transparent and customizable way. However, this is currently not possible with AppleTVs. For this reason, many company resources or even networks can’t be accessed by the AppleTVs used by businesses. This changes with tvOS 17 and the introduction of VPN support for AppleTVs. Now companies will be able to configure and enforce VPNs on AppleTVs in the same way they already do with all other Apple devices, making all Apple devices prepared to operate in corporate environments protected by VPN.

Overall, macOS Sonoma, iOS17 and iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17 are significant upgrades over their predecessors and offer several new features and benefits that can help businesses be more productive, efficient, and secure. 

However, while the productivity features mentioned above will be available directly on the new OS versions for compatible devices at the time of the update, the deployment, management, and security features and improvements mentioned require that your Apple MDM and endpoint security solution will be ready to support all new features when Apple releases the OS updates later this year.

The leading providers on the Apple Endpoint Management and Security markets are already releasing beta access to several of the upcoming features and improvements. 

A few days ago 9to5Mac reported that Mosyle, a main provider in the space and known by its unique Apple Unified Platform, was already releasing, just a couple of weeks after WWDC 2023, beta access to its customers to several upcoming features. This allows IT Admins and Security professionals to start testing and preparing for the upcoming OS versions and ensure their companies are fully compatible on the day Apple officially releases the new OS versions.

If your Apple MDM is not in the same stage as providers like Mosyle, you can consider getting TRIAL or even FREE accounts for testing on compatible solutions. Mosyle offers a 30-day unlimited trial to its most complete product called Mosyle Fuse, and after that period, unlimited FREE access to all Apple MDM capabilities (including the beta features of the upcoming OS version) for up to 30 devices, what should be more than enough for testing.

So, start now to test all the great new features coming soon with all the new Apple OS versions.

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