Apple's 'Business Essentials' Service Expands to All Small Businesses

Apple today announced the official launch of its Business Essentials service designed to help out small businesses that use Apple products. The service was previously available in a beta capacity to a limited number of businesses, but now it is available to any small business that wants to participate.

apple business essentials
Business Essentials, available to businesses with up to 500 employees, is a subscription-based service that provides device management features that include setup and onboarding, iCloud storage, and optional 24/7 access to Apple Support through AppleCare+ for Business, another new addition.


‌AppleCare‌+ for Business can be added to any Apple Business Essentials plan, and it offers 24/7 access to phone support, training for both IT administrators and employees, and up to two device repairs per plan — by individual, group, or device — each year.

Apple Business Essentials is priced at $2.99 per user to $12.99 per user, with the price varying based on the number of devices and the amount of ‌iCloud‌ storage that each employee needs. A two month free trial is available to all customers, including those who used the service in beta.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18 Available Now With These 8 New Features For Your iPhone

Sunday September 15, 2024 10:09 am PDT by
Following over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 was finally widely released to the public on Monday, September 16. The update is available in the Settings app under General → Software Update on the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18, and Apple shared a complete list of new features and changes last week. Note that Apple...
iOS 18 Public Beta Thumb 1

Here's When iOS 18 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone

Monday September 16, 2024 3:56 am PDT by
It's that time of year again. Apple is about to release iOS 18, which promises to bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and the company is expected to release it sometime today – Monday, September 16. Based on past releases, the update is likely to drop at around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/1:00 p.m. Eastern...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

M4 Macs, New iPad Mini, and iPad 11 Expected at Upcoming Apple Event

Sunday September 15, 2024 5:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated...
M4 Mac mini Black Ortho Cooler

Apple Leaks New Mac Mini With 5 USB-C Ports

Monday September 16, 2024 11:40 am PDT by
Apple has seemingly leaked the rumored next-generation Mac mini with five USB-C ports, according to a code change within Apple software that was discovered today by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The code refers to an unreleased Mac mini model with an Apple silicon chip and five ports, which lines up with a previous report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman that said the next Mac mini will be ...
16 pro

iPhone 16 Pro Demand Has Been Lower Than Expected, Analyst Says

Sunday September 15, 2024 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store. Kuo estimated that sales of all four iPhone 16 models reached...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday September 13, 2024 2:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...

Top Rated Comments

cupcakes2000 Avatar
32 months ago
You should really state that this is US only in the post. So not really all small businesses.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jeaz Avatar
32 months ago
Is it just me or would it be nice if this also included more "Microsoft 365" features such as e-mail accounts with custom domains, calendar sharing and so on. Maybe as Business Plus?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zachlegomaniac Avatar
32 months ago
We've been using Apple Business Essentials since the beta rolled out and will never look back. Mosyle was not a good fit for us. With Apple Business Essentials an ecologist, who knows nothing about MDM, can take care of all the devices in his small business (that sounds like a commercial). It was a pleasure getting everything set up with full support from the Apple technicians. It reminded me of why I buy their products both personally and for my company.

Now if they could rectify the horizontal scrolling software issue I have with Monterey on my MBA with 12.4...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sorgo † Avatar
32 months ago
God those mismatched notches are ugly ?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zachlegomaniac Avatar
32 months ago

That's interesting. The early feedback I saw indicated that Apple expected you to use ABE in addition to an MDM, not instead of one. So a couple of questions for you:

1. Does this mean that ABE is your only MDM now?
2. How difficult was it to switch to/add ABE for devices that were already enrolled in your MDM?
Huh, that's equally as fascinating to me. We pulled all of our devices off Mosyle, altogether, and are actively managing the devices with ABE (only). The business rep from our local Apple Store put me in touch with a guy out in California that helped me get started and that was that. Enrolling the devices was extremely simple.

One of my employees has taken over the device management through ABE since I went through the process first with an iPad Pro in the early winter. Feel free to DM me any questions you have and I can run them by her. I really struggled with Mosyle and started to think we'd have to outsource the work, but the entire UI of ABE felt much less intimidating (for someone of my skill level, anyways).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TriBruin Avatar
31 months ago

It looks pretty great and pretty easy. How does it manage apps that aren't distributed through the Mac or iOS App stores?
For Mac, it does not currently support installing non-Mac App Store apps. According to a stat I heard from Jamf yesterday, 12 of the top 15 installed Apps are non-MAS apps. Supposedly Apple is looking at adding this feature at a later date.

For iOS Apps, there really is no reason for non AppStore apps. A few years ago, Apple introduced a way for companies to post custom apps to the AppStore and designate them for specific customers. Those apps can be added just like regular iOS apps.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)