What iOS, iPadOS and tvOS 17 bring to commercial organizations

As Apple announced its new iOS 17, iPadOS and tvOS 17 operating systems, Jamf is once again excited to bring you same-day compatibility support. Read more about the importance of same-day support in this release blog.

As Apple continues to evolve how employees work, Jamf is evolving how we enable organizations to succeed with their new operating systems. At Jamf, our same-day commitment means delivering compatibility for Apple’s releases on the day they are available, strengthening security from out-of-date software, minimizing downtime from breaking workflows, and keeping end users happy and productive.

Commercial organizations are always looking for ways to improve management and security processes, increase security protocols, and enhance the end-user experience. With the release of iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and tvOS 17 on Sept. 18, and the anticipated release of macOS Sonoma on September 26, Apple has once again helped organizations do exactly that. Read on for highlights of key features new to iOS 17 and how they may impact you and your organization.

Managing software updates via Declarative Device Management (DDM)

Declarative software updates add more functionality to the existing DDM protocol by empowering IT admins to better communicate, schedule and enforce the latest software updates to managed devices. In the past, devices could defer updates, challenging admins to keep devices safe from out-of-date software. With software update management, admins can specify and enforce the date and time of updates and notify end users more frequently and with more transparency.

The workflow is a much simpler process: in one action, the IT administrator schedules an enforcement date and targets a specific update version and deadline to a group of devices. Once the update plan is defined, iOS will handle user notifications and reminders leading to the eventual enforcement deadline and update. Devices will proactively and autonomously give feedback to the Mobile Device Management (MDM) regarding the update’s progress.

Once the update is complete, the status reports back to the MDM, providing administrators with the most up-to-date status of OS versions of managed devices. This helps devices stay compliant.

Account-driven device enrollment

Account-driven device enrollment lets users enroll an institutionally owned mobile device into MDM without downloading and installing profiles. This provides a better workflow for users to enroll iOS or iPadOS devices by eliminating the need to enroll into MDM via a link or a portal and also separates organizational and personal data by creating a new data volume for managed data and apps, just like in account-driven user enrollment.

Account-driven device enrollment also provides organizations a more flexible way to manage devices. Admins will have the ability to manage passcodes; install, manage and view apps and accounts; and remotely lock or wipe devices to mitigate any breaches of company data of devices lost, stolen, or compromised.

Return to service

Return to service is a new MDM action that will send an EraseDevice command along with the previously selected language, region and critically — a Wi-Fi profile. Previously, these un-skippable user selections had to be performed each time an iOS or iPadOS device was wiped and re-enrolled to MDM. Now, organizations will be able to reconfigure devices with minimal effort, as all on-device steps post-wipe are automated to complete re-enrollment.

Jamf support for your updates

Apple releases are always an exciting time for Apple IT and security admins. At Jamf, we look forward to exploring how we can support these new features and help our customers integrate them into their device ecosystem.