Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager will both be referred to as ABM in this article. If you are an educational institution, substitute Apple School Manager where relevant.
If your organization owns and uses Apple devices, it's a good idea to enroll them in Apple Business Manager, even if you don't use any MDM solution. ABM allows you to disable activation lock, preventing you from being locked out of a device in the event that a user offboards without removing their personal Apple account from an organization-owned device.
If you need to deploy paid apps to your users on MDM-managed devices, you will also need ABM to gain access to Apple's Volume Purchase Program (VPP).
ABM is a free service offered by Apple, but it does require some setup, which will take at least a few days. Unless you qualify to use Apple School Manager, you will first need to apply for a D-U-N-S number, if your company doesn't have one already.
Educational institutions: Once you meet the requirements, you can apply for Apple School Manager.
All other organizations: Once you meet the requirements, you can apply for Apple Business Manager.
Adding Devices to ABM
Devices need to be added to ABM before you can use Automated Device Enrollment to enroll in MDM. Devices can be added either at time of purchase through an Apple authorized reseller, or certain devices can be added manually using Apple Configurator.
Automatically Adding Newly Purchased Devices to ABM
To have newly purchased devices automatically added to ABM, you need to set up a supplier relationship in ABM. See: Manage device suppliers in Apple Business Manager
If you buy devices directly from Apple rather than from a reseller, contact Apple using the relevant phone number for your organization.
Manually Adding Previously Purchased Devices to ABM
Qualifying devices that you already own can be added to ABM manually using an app called Apple Configurator. See: Add devices using Apple Configurator to Apple Business Manager
Devices must be completely erased to add them to ABM.
Apple Configurator is available for iOS/iPadOS and macOS.
Apple Configurator for iOS/iPadOS
Apple Configurator for iOS is the preferred way to add devices to ABM, with the least amount of pitfalls and incompatibilities. These platforms can be added to ABM using Apple Configurator for iOS:
iPhone running iOS 16+
iPad running iPadOS 16.1+
Mac with T2 chip or Apple Silicon processor running macOS 12.0.1+
Apple Vision Pro running visionOS 26+
To add a device to ABM using Apple Configurator for iOS, first make sure the device is erased. Then, put the device on the relevant Setup Assistant pane:
For Mac, make sure Setup Assistant is displaying Select Your Country or Region
For iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, make sure Setup Assistant is displaying Choose a Wi-Fi Network
Open Apple Configurator on your iPhone or iPad and sign in with your Managed Apple Account which has permissions to enroll new devices. It should detect your nearby device automatically. Follow instructions to complete enrollment to ABM.
Apple Configurator for Mac
If possible, we recommend that you use Apple Configurator for iOS/iPadOS to add devices to ABM where possible. If you must use Apple Configurator for Mac, please see Using Apple Configurator for Mac.