Apple Announces 'Business Essentials' Service for Small Businesses

Apple today announced the debut of Apple Business Essentials, a new subscription-based service that will offer device management like setup and onboarding, iCloud storage, and optional 24/7 access to Apple Support for small businesses with up to 500 employees.

apple business essentials
Apple Business Essentials will enable small businesses to easily configure, deploy, and manage Apple products from anywhere, and there will be an Apple Business Essentials app that employees can access to download corporate apps like Webex or Microsoft Word.

Within Apple Business Essentials, Collections enable IT personnel to configure settings and apps for individual users, groups, or devices. When employees sign in to their corporate or personally owned device with their work credentials, Collections automatically push settings such as VPN configurations and Wi-Fi passwords. In addition, Collections will install the new Apple Business Essentials app on each employee’s home screen, where they can download corporate apps assigned to them, such as Cisco Webex or Microsoft Word.

Apple Business Essentials is available today as a free beta for small businesses in the U.S. with up to 500 employees, and the service will be fully available in spring 2022. Pricing will range from $2.99 per user per month to $12.99 per user per month depending on the number of devices and the amount of iCloud storage each user needs.


There will be an option to add AppleCare+ to an Apple Business Essentials plan starting in spring 2022, and this will provide 24/7 access to Apple Support by phone, training for both IT administrators and employees, and up to two device repairs per plan each year. Employees will be able to initiate repairs directly from the Apple Business Essentials app, and an Apple-trained technician can arrive on site in as little as four hours.

Small businesses can sign up for Apple Business Essentials on Apple's website.

Popular Stories

16 pro

Apple Announces iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with Larger Displays, New Camera Control, and More

Monday September 9, 2024 11:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max—its latest flagship smartphones—featuring larger displays, an all-new Camera Control button, and the A18 Pro chip. The iPhone 16 Pro has a 6.3-inch display, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max features a 6.9-inch display—the biggest iPhone display ever. The borders around the display are the thinnest of any Apple device. The...
Glowtime Live Coverage Article 1

Apple Event Live Blog: iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and New AirPods!

Monday September 9, 2024 9:21 am PDT by
Apple's "It's Glowtime" event kicks off today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where we're expecting to see the iPhone 16 lineup and some updated Apple Watch and AirPods models unveiled, and perhaps some other announcements. Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV app across various platforms. We will also be updating this article with live blog...
airpods max 2024 colors

Apple Updates AirPods Max With USB-C Port and New Colors

Monday September 9, 2024 10:36 am PDT by
Apple today announced that the AirPods Max are being updated with a USB-C charging port and new color options, including Midnight, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Starlight. In addition, Apple said the AirPods Max are gaining support for Personalized Spatial Audio with the upcoming iOS 18 software update. The updated AirPods Max will be available to pre-order for $549 starting today, and the...
iphone 16 pro pro max

First iPhone 16 Carrier Deals Include iPhone 16/16 Pro For Free, $1,000 Off iPhone 16 Pro Max

Monday September 9, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple today announced the latest lineup of iPhones, including the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Pre-orders for these devices begin September 13, and if you plan on ordering from a cellular carrier in the United States, there will be plenty of options for discounts from the major carriers. AT&T is offering the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro at no cost with...
Screenshot 2024 09 09 at 6

Apple Announces Thinner Apple Watch Series 10 With Bigger Screen Than Ultra

Monday September 9, 2024 10:11 am PDT by
Apple at its event today announced the Apple Watch Series 10, featuring a wide-angle OLED display that is larger than the Apple Watch Ultra, with the company describing it as the "biggest display and thinnest design ever." The Series 10 is 9.7mm thick, which is nearly 10% thinner than Series 9, and it weighs 20% less than the Stainless Steel Series 9. The Aluminum cases also weigh up to 10%...
sonny iphone 16 pro colors

New iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Colors Revealed Ahead of Apple Event

Friday September 6, 2024 5:01 am PDT by
Apple is "shaking up its color palette" for its iPhone 16 lineup this year, according to well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Early iPhone 16 Pro dummy models via Sonny Dickson According to Gurman, the iPhone 16 Pro models will come in a Gold Titanium to replace Blue Titanium, while the Black, White, and Natural Titanium options that debuted with the iPhone 15 Pro will remain...
iphone 16 lineup colors

Apple Discontinues iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 13

Monday September 9, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
With the launch of the new iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple has discontinued some of its older iPhones. As of today, Apple is no longer selling the iPhone 13, and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have been replaced with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The iPhone SE remains as Apple's most affordable device, with the iPhone 14 and iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

DHagan4755 Avatar
37 months ago
Looks like this might be fruits from the Fleetsmith acquisition last year. This is badly needed. As good as JAMF is, the fact that Apple hasn't itself provided management on par with Google or Microsoft has been an Achille's heel in enterprise/education. I expect it to grow & expand beyond 500 employees.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jeaz Avatar
37 months ago
It's strange it's taken them this long to do something like this. The iCloud/iWork suite has a lot of benefits for a small business but there's been very little support from Apple on this. With iCloud Mail, iWork and FaceTime you have a quite decent productivity suite within the Apple Eco System. Hopefully this brings even more focus to iWork apps for collaboration and other features.

I do find it unclear wether or not this includes e-mail accounts. One would have thought the whole custom domain iCloud+ service was sort of a soft launch for this.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
37 months ago
Good for the businesses. It seems like it’s going to be very seamless

All set up in one.

Service revenue ?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
37 months ago

No more leaks. They’re not saying anything anymore. ? I’m also surprised Mark Gurman did not mention or know about this.

We got leaks like this now…

[MEDIA=twitter]1457829177068081154[/MEDIA]
I generally think Prosser is a total clown and completely lies about his “leaks", but his post is spot on: Apple’s software is getting comically low quality. I can’t believe their competitors aren’t attacking this vector: sure, fast chips, but totally unreliable software.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
37 months ago
It's time for Apple to be serious about businesses. They have a few advantages of course, like less IT costs, easy AI models development, etc. but they need to develop more Pro Tools ASAP.

Thinking of a better iWork suite, a collaborative work environment equivalent to Teams, and equivalent to Power tools from Microsoft (Power BI, Power Automate, Power Query, Power Pivot...). And in a place where Access is dying, they need to push FileMaker more. Microsoft has such an edge on Apple in the business world, it's not even funny.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
37 months ago
So is Apple in the process of Sherlocking JAMF??
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)