Apple Ending 'Joint Venture' Program for Business Customers Next Month

Apple this week announced that its "Joint Venture" program will be ending on February 22, 2021. In an email, shared by MacRumors reader Ben, Apple said existing members will continue to have full access to the program through this date.

apple business customers
Launched in 2011, the Joint Venture program provided business customers who purchased a Mac, iPhone, or iPad with priority technical support, training on Apple products and services, and setup assistance for up to five Apple systems. The program had an annual fee that started at $499, and additional systems could be covered for $99 each.

Joint Venture essentially provided outsourced IT for small and medium-sized businesses that needed greater support and service than standard Genius Bar appointments and AppleCare telephone support. Fortunately, businesses can still receive priority technical support by purchasing AppleCare Help Desk Support, which provides two designated contacts with unlimited support incidents for Apple hardware and software for $499 per year.

Apple says existing Joint Venture customers will receive a prorated refund for any remaining portion of their membership.

Popular Stories

Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
65 months ago
This is going to be a huge blow to people who enjoy looking at paperwork while sitting in front of Macs. :(



Attachment Image
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
65 months ago
If you worked within Apple Retail around 2008-2011ish you remember how annoying of a metric Joint Venture was Lol. Couldn’t sell that or MobileMe to save my life!

It won’t be missed. (Well, I guess by some it will be)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
typecase Avatar
65 months ago
I loved having support that came to your business to fix this. I had them fix our Mac Pro on site and replace the logic board. Sucks that no support option like this is now available.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brian Y Avatar
65 months ago

If you worked within Apple Retail around 2008-2011ish you remember how annoying of a metric Joint Venture was Lol. Couldn’t sell that or MobileMe to save my life!

It won’t be missed. (Well, I guess by some it will be)
Absolutely - although my memories of it were from behind the bar. Despite pushing it to no end, and one of the promises being a loaner machine, they never allocated us any machines to give to joint venture customers!

From what I recall, every time one came in that needed a loaner, we needed to basically move a retail unit to the ISU bucket then RTW it when it came back, as we weren't allowed to give it to another customer for "data protection" reasons - long before GDPR!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CWallace Avatar
65 months ago

Timmy cheaping out to line his pockets further. Surprise surprise
If it was making Apple good money, they wouldn't be cancelling it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChrisBos Avatar
65 months ago

Absolutely - although my memories of it were from behind the bar. Despite pushing it to no end, and one of the promises being a loaner machine, they never allocated us any machines to give to joint venture customers!

From what I recall, every time one came in that needed a loaner, we needed to basically move a retail unit to the ISU bucket then RTW it when it came back, as we weren't allowed to give it to another customer for "data protection" reasons - long before GDPR!
Mine are from the training side, I was the "backup" JV Creative at a flag.

And just like so many regular old One to One sessions, the two I ended up delivering were full of MS Office, Adobe CS and other "unsupported" software questions that were way beyond what we were supposed to offer, at a table full of people with various use cases and skill levels with each. Good times.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)