Intro to Apple School Manager
Apple School Manager is a simple, web-based portal for IT administrators that works with your third-party mobile device management (MDM) solution so that you can easily buy content in volume, whether your organization uses uses iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, or Apple Vision Pro.
To learn whether Apple School Manager is available in your country or region, see the Apple Support article Availability of Apple programs and payment methods for education and business.
Apple School Manager offers the following features.
Automated Device Enrollment
With Apple School Manager, you can automate MDM enrollment and simplify initial device setup without having to physically touch or prepare the devices before users get them. You can automatically enroll devices into your MDM solution of choice, as long as the device has been added to your organization at the time of purchase—from Apple, an Apple Authorized Reseller, an authorized cellular carrier, or through Apple Configurator.
Buy apps and books
Apple School Manager works with your MDM solution, letting your organization buy content (such as apps and books) in volume, assign it to devices or users, and then install and update that content wirelessly, even if the App Store is disabled. You retain full ownership and control of apps you’ve bought. You can even revoke and reassign apps to different devices and users—in any country where that app is available from the App Store.
Integrate with your Student Information System (SIS)
So you can quickly create user accounts with school rosters and classes, Apple School Manager also integrates with your existing environment. You can integrate with your SIS either directly or using the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). See Integrate Apple School Manager with your Student Information System (SIS) and Upload Student Information System data.
Managed Apple Accounts
Managed Apple Accounts function much like Apple Accounts but are specifically designed for, owned, and managed by, an organization to help increase the productivity of teachers and students and provide the services users may need. These accounts are separate from personal Apple Accounts users create for themselves. This helps to keep organizational data separate from personal data with robust management controls.
This also includes role-based administration and—in certain instances—password resets. Users can access iCloud and collaboration with iWork, Notes, and Reminders—and users with the roles of Administrator, Managers, Staff, and Instructors can sign in to the Apple School Manager web portal. They also allows students and instructors to use, for example, the Classroom app and the Schoolwork app.
For more information, see Use Managed Apple Accounts.
Steps to deploy
Apple School Manager is a central element of modern device deployment for education institutions. See the Apple Deployment Guide for Education to learn more about the steps of deploying Apple devices successfully in your learning environment for both one-to-one and shared deployments.
Certifications
To help you address any regulatory and contractual obligations, Apple maintains certifications in compliance with the ISO/IEC 27001 and 27018 standards. These certifications provide our customers with an independent attestation over Apple’s Information Security and Privacy practices for in-scope systems. See Apple services covered by ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27018 in Apple Platform Certifications.