Apple tends to highlight more of its enterprise developments at its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, rather than at its new phone launch in September. Nevertheless, this is a good juncture to look at Apple’s enterprise direction with announcement of new devices and the imminent arrival of iOS13.

The growing number of enterprise-focused Apple device management solution providers, reflects how rapidly iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices are proliferating across the enterprise. Enterprise-class solutions are also becoming more accessible to consumer users —at the beginning of this year, Apple’s key partner, Jamf launched its own SME-focused solution via Apple Retail stores.

At its annual September event, Apple introduced three new smartphones models: the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max with enhanced chipsets, richer screens, and longer battery life. It also introduced a new Apple Watch, iPad, a dedicated iPad OS, iOS13 and a variety of other consumer services. Enterprise announcements were conspicuous by their absence, but that doesn’t mean that Apple hasn’t been busy improving its B2B approach. It is no secret that the business market represents major opportunities for vendors such as Apple, especially with slowing device sales in some developed markets.

Apple has been constructing a network to make the most of iPhone, iPad and Mac devices in the corporate world. SAP, Cisco, IBM, HP and other affiliated enterprises team up with Apple on mobile strategy consulting, app development, back-end system integration and corporate networking. These companies build customized apps on iOS platforms for their customers. Apple also develops custom apps for each business solution and over 235,000 business apps are currently available in the App Store.

Let's take a look at Apple’s enterprise direction with announcement of new devices and the imminent arrival of iOS13.

• While iOS13 adds a number of expected incremental improvements, the most significant additions are Enterprise features. Some of the new productivity features in iOS13 include the ability to
  • Silence unknown callers
  • Add attachments to calendar events
  • Optimize battery charging to reduce battery aging (which is great for any iPad kiosk devices that are connected to charge for prolonged periods)
  • Block senders across all Apple devices in Mail
  • File Management
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Apple simplifies MDM (Mobile Device Management)/EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) Integration
  • User Enrolment is a multi-persona Enrolment option designed for companies implementing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) with iOS13. Its foundation is based on providing device management capabilities for admins by separating data utilizing the iOS13 Managed Apple ID. With user Enrolment, two Apple IDs are allowed on a single device: So you have your personal Apple ID and also a managed Apple ID. And with that, IT has the ability to sandbox access to company apps and services, without crippling access to personal apps and services.

Figure 1: User Enrolment on iOS13

Undeniably, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system is intended to make devices work faster, improve stability and security and Apple has definitely given IT something reliable and secure to work with, and that need is only going to grow.

However, Apple’s market share keeps shrinking as Huawei and Samsung widen the gap. Although iOS continued to remain the leading platform in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. Apple’s enterprise strategy in 2019 is really to shift its focus to services. For more information and details about Apple’s B2B market share and Apple’s enterprise strategy, please read - Apple continues to Quietly Build out its Enterprise Strategy; Global Business Smartphone Shipment Forecast Q2 2019; Global Business Smartphone Quarterly Tracking Q2 2019.