Anyone use a company Managed Mac?

[LiE]

Moving job soon and managed to swing a 15" M2 Air 16/512. This will be the first time I'll be using a mac that will be company owned and managed. Does anyone have any experience?

I assume it will be locked down and the AppleID will be my company AppleID.

 

[Throrik]

I do, and we don't have Apple IDs at all. Which is super annoying in some respects. We have zero access to the Apple Store and have a 'Company Store' to install approved applications. Fortunately I have admin access to install whatever else I actually need.

 

[pepp77]

Sound like they are managed by an MDM, so no apple IDs and all apps are either pushed to the device from the portal or put in a company store like above. I use this for one customers iPads so they only have what we allow.

 

[On Holiday]

It'll probably come down to your work policies and attitude towards devices.

My work-issued MBP is on my own Apple ID. MDM is only installed to enforce policies like stronger passwords, forced disk encryption and allow remote wiping in case it's lost or stolen. I can still install anything I like on-demand and it's reasonably accepted that you can use it for your own personal use occasionally during company travel-time.

 

[ChrisD.]

Moving job soon and managed to swing a 15" M2 Air 16/512. This will be the first time I'll be using a mac that will be company owned and managed. Does anyone have any experience?

I assume it will be locked down and the AppleID will be my company AppleID.

Yes, 16" MacBook Pro M1, I use my own Apple ID with it. No issues apart from some of the bloatware they force install.

 

[LiE]

It'll probably come down to your work policies and attitude towards devices.

It's health insurance business so I believe they are quite locked down.

 

[uvarvu]

Mine is MDM managed using jamf. My company themed out an internal store using jamf's platform but I also have access to the Apple Store using my own Apple ID. I don't think they set it up properly as I can install software updates when they're immediately released and I'm also enrolled in the macos developer beta on it.

 

[JollyJamma]

I do, and we don't have Apple IDs at all. Which is super annoying in some respects. We have zero access to the Apple Store and have a 'Company Store' to install approved applications. Fortunately I have admin access to install whatever else I actually need.

That’s normal for Windows machines too tho?

How do you have admin access? That causes more issues that it solves.

IT admins love Macs because they give far fewer issues that Windows machines.

 

[Throrik]

That’s normal for Windows machines too tho?

How do you have admin access? That causes more issues that it solves.

IT admins love Macs because they give far fewer issues that Windows machines.

Because I'm a member of the IT department. If I didn't have admin access I wouldn't be able to do my job.

 

[JollyJamma]

Because I'm a member of the IT department. If I didn't have admin access I wouldn't be able to do my job.

Hmmm, I’m still not sure you need admin privileges

/s

lol

 

[visibleman]

I assume it will be locked down and the AppleID will be my company AppleID.

Similar to what others have said, it can be completely locked down, no personal Apple ID(/iCloud), pushed apps only, to fairly open admin user accounts with personal Apple ID's, App Store access etc. It completely depends on how IT are managing their employee devices and what policies and guidelines they're having to stick to.

Do remember it's a company device though and as someone that manages employee devices, i would recommend treating it as such and using your own devices for personal use.

IT admins love Macs because they give far fewer issues that Windows machines.

 

[0n1ons]

Yes, 16" MacBook Pro M1, I use my own Apple ID with it. No issues apart from some of the bloatware they force install.

This

 

[HACO]

My work mac is also managed via MDM by the IT department but I have admin access so I created a work Apple ID and generally do what I want. Every once in a while they do something stupid via managed profiles that causes trouble but I usually complain very quickly and they revert back

 

[Throrik]

My work mac is also managed via MDM by the IT department but I have admin access so I created a work Apple ID and generally do what I want. Every once in a while they do something stupid via managed profiles that causes trouble but I usually complain very quickly and they revert back

I have something similar - we still have an ancient vRO deployment in some of our DCs which is mid migration, so every single update breaks the Java App and I have to message one of the guys in the team to re-allow it.

 

[whiskycycle]

Our IT management are a bit backwards. Won’t allow Macs on the the network, despite every management and security system having full support. They simply don’t understand them, and refuse to even contemplate learning about and supporting them. Just means the odd Mac user we have has a painful experience all told, even when their core work function pretty much demands using a Mac!

 

[MrRockliffe]

Mine is a managed device and I'm able to use my Apple ID but don't have access to certain features, such as iCloud Drive syncing

But Keychain/Handoff/etc work fine


I use Chrome for work and Safari for anything I want to look at not work related - that way the two browsers are completely separate.


I'm able to install my own apps, but my machine is regularly remotely audited for the list of apps. I've installed Elgato/Logitech/Jabra/MS Office on my machine and never had any issues.

 

[visibleman]

Our IT management are a bit backwards. Won’t allow Macs on the the network, despite every management and security system having full support. They simply don’t understand them, and refuse to even contemplate learning about and supporting them. Just means the odd Mac user we have has a painful experience all told, even when their core work function pretty much demands using a Mac!

If you're in an AD driven MS/Windows deployment then it's understandable (to some degree) as getting Macs to play nice is headaches.
Saying that, if Macs are needed in the company then i'm surprised they haven't rolled out an MDM for interim management of the few (current) devices and roadmapped a proper solution if Mac/Apple devices are likely to increase over the next few years etc.

 

[LiE]

I was given the choice when joining this new company because I know the guy hiring me, he knows I have a preference for Macs. Windows would probably be better for playing nicely in the corporate world, but I know that getting a Mac will mean better hardware specs. Their bog standard Windows laptops leave much to be desired.

Instead I'll be getting an M2 15" MacBook Air 16/512 which will be a lovely thing to work on.

 

[whiskycycle]

If you're in an AD driven MS/Windows deployment then it's understandable (to some degree) as getting Macs to play nice is headaches.
Saying that, if Macs are needed in the company then i'm surprised they haven't rolled out an MDM for interim management of the few (current) devices and roadmapped a proper solution if Mac/Apple devices are likely to increase over the next few years etc.

With what the users need, the Macs will play nice (even AD to a point)! Did a POC a while ago and it all behaved beautifully really. Wish the ingrained intransigence could be eradicated for a more human-centric environment... telling a near 30 year Mac user they need to use Windows never went down too well really.

 

[Steedie]

When I used my Mini for a while, it had to be managed but didn't find it got in the way at all, as I still used it as a personal machine. I can't remember seeing anything being locked down or blocked