Retail Iphone from AT&T has DEP and ASM - Mixup or mistake?

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Level 1

4 points

Retail Iphone from AT&T has DEP and ASM - Mixup or mistake?

My wife has been claiming for months that her iphone 15 pro is being remotely managed via MDM, after a top level look I did not see any signs of supervision. However, and admittedly to my surprise, she has located logs that do confirm the device is in enrolled in ASM/DEP. It appears to not be very restrictive, but the device DOES appear to be enrolled. studentd is present on the device and there is an enterprise MDM profile com.apple.ATT_NR_US.edf0128e-da0e-11eb-9a46-f45c89abb0d9. This configuration has survived wipes/resets so it lends credence to the fact that it is being managed.

This device was purchased from AT&T retail, based on my limited knowledge and research, DEP can only be activated/configured prior to purchase, and if this was a true retail device then what she is experiencing would not be possible.

So outside of some malicious actor, the only conclusion I can come to is that this institutionally DEP enrolled device was ACCIDENTALLY sold via the retail channel by AT&T. Is that a likely conclusion, has anyone ever received a managed device by mistake from AT&T?

Accident or not, With the serial number, who/where/how can we confirm that this device is managed? It definitely does not show in the management profiles in settings. It does not display the "managed by" anywhere.

Posted on Sep 13, 2025 09:12 AM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

54,026 points

Sep 13, 2025 09:35 AM in response to peeeetah

The ATT_NR_US.edf0128e-da0e-11eb-9a46-f45c89abb0d9 most likely refers to the Managed WiFi Networks that are installed on your device by AT&T when the SIM has been activated. Those do not mean the device is managed at all and every major cellular provider includes Managed WiFi Networks. You can see them at Settings > WiFi > Edit, but they cannot be deleted unless the SIM is removed, then they go away on their own.

Analytic logs are often misinterpreted with the many references to managed accounts, so not sure what you saw that led you to that conclusion. Usually when users turn to analytic logs to diagnose an issue, it never ends well. The tools used by Apple for decoding the logs to make any sense out of them are not publicly available.

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Answer 2

peeeetah Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 13, 2025 11:07 AM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thanks Jim! I assumed it was something innocuous, and believe me I know these logs are misinterpreted, me telling my wife for the last few months that shes misinterpreting the logs has actually affected our relationship lol.

But I can't dismiss the fact that studentd is running on the device, and is reinstalled automatically after a wipe/reset. Wouldn't that have to mean that at some point the serial was associated with an org in ASM?

Is there a resource at apple what would provide a simple confirm or deny that the particular serial number is enrolled or was ever enrolled in ASM?

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Answer 3

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

54,026 points

Sep 13, 2025 03:23 PM in response to peeeetah

peeeetah wrote:

Is there a resource at apple what would provide a simple confirm or deny that the particular serial number is enrolled or was ever enrolled in ASM?

ASM is for a managed Apple Account, not a specific device, which is why you would log in with that managed Apple Account on a Device at the Device Management settings. A device that is being managed would have the profile for that MDM listed on the same page in Settings.

It would not be unusual to have both MDM and ASM in a school environment where the MDM is used to place restrictions on the device and students could then log into any of those devices with the Managed Apple Account that places the restrictions on what that account can be used for, and also student specific monitoring. The Managed Apple Account used for ASM is assigned to you and you cannot use a Personal Apple Account as a Managed Account, which is why you see that error when you attempt to sign in using your Personal Apple Account as your account is currently already being used and does not qualify as a Managed Apple Account.

About Managed Apple Accounts in Apple School Manager - Apple Support

In any case, I understand the situation you are in and just for confirmation or peace of mind, the only thing I could recommend is to contact Apple directly with your concerns to see if they can provide you some assurance with both the device serial number and your Apple Account. I know of no website where you can get that confirmation.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

The studentd process is a daemon (which is the "d" at the end) that is constantly running on the OS for both iPhone and Mac, whether the device is being managed or not and will also produce logs. I reference the Mac here only because it is easier to see the processes that are running and if you attempt to quit the process it will automatically restart, just like any other daemon. Here is the process running on my Mac when viewed in Activity Monitor and my Mac is not managed either.

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