Manually adding existing Mac devices to Apple Business Manager

Question

Manually adding existing Mac devices to Apple Business Manager

Hello All,

We are a startup company in India with 15-20 Mac devices. We purchase Macs from an authorized reseller, and most of them are 1 to 1.5 years old. Currently, we don't have an MDM setup but plan to establish one later this year. Recently, we signed up for Apple Business Manager, and we would like to add all these Macs to Apple Business Manager and create managed Apple IDs for the users.

After reading the user guide, we discovered that to add Mac devices manually through Apple Configurator, we would have to factory reset them. Is there any possible way to manually add these existing Macs from the reseller to Apple Business Manager? Any help would be much appreciated

Posted on Apr 23, 2024 11:37 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 25, 2024 9:30 AM in response to kirubakaran1906

If you do not have an MDM, then you have nothing to worry about. If your reseller adds the devices to ABM, they will all appear as "Unassigned." Once you have the MDM in place, then you can assign the assets to the MDM (or leave them alone to avoid retroactive).

ABM is the foundation stone of your Apple platform management. Set it up first. Then research and select your MDM. ABM establishes chain of custody. MDM enforces chain of custody. No MDM, no enforcement.

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Answer 2

Apr 24, 2024 9:32 AM in response to kirubakaran1906

Generally, the answer is yes. But, I am basing this on the experience of the US market. Remember, Apple's services and functions differ from region to region. As a US reseller and integrator, I can confirm that it is possible to backload prior purchases for businesses new to ABM. Likewise, we can also pull devices back and reassign to other ABMs (like when a company sells a division or buys another business - as long as we are part of the original chain of custody, we can move the hardware assets).

Reach out to your reseller. If the reseller is keeping proper records, they will know all of the devices that you have purchased. Assuming the distribution channel is the same as in the US, you reseller will be able to work with the distributor to assign these assets to ABM. No system erase will be required.

That being said, be aware that Sonona introduces retroactive MDM enforcement. If you have a device that is not in an MDM and your reseller backloads it to ABM and you assign it to an MDM, the Sonoma machine will eventually prompt the user to enroll the device. Again, this is not a wipe condition. But it is one you should prepare for through communication to your users. The user will have a one-time "not now" option that provides an 8 hour grace period.

Hope this helps

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Answer 3

Apr 24, 2024 10:29 PM in response to Strontium90

Great, I read about 'Retroactive Automated Device Enrollment' - thanks to you.

In my case, we don't have an MDM setup in place, so my question is: Must we have an MDM in place to use ABM? What if I select the 'Not now' option while setting up the Mac, and we did not have an MDM?

All our Macs are 1 - 1.5 years old and were purchased from the same Apple authorized seller here. I will check with them to see if they can assign those Macs to ABM.

Thanks again :)

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Answer 4

Apr 26, 2024 12:59 AM in response to Strontium90

Alright! Thanks again for your prompt answer. We have got all our Macs added from our reseller end and tagged as Unassigned now

Once we get the MDM - we will add it to ABM and then assign accordingly

Have a good day :)

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