Apple @ Work is solely dropped at you by Mosyle, the one Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the one resolution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all of the options essential to seamlessly and robotically deploy, handle & shield Apple gadgets at work. Over 45,000 organizations belief Mosyle to make thousands and thousands of Apple gadgets work-ready with no effort and at an inexpensive value. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL in the present day and perceive why Mosyle is the whole lot you should work with Apple.
We’re simply previous the five-year anniversary of the primary Apple Silicon Mac (M1 MacBook Air), and the long-term affect of that transition is beginning to present up for each Apple and IT groups. MacPaw’s new Mac Admin Survey for 2026 paints a transparent image of what life seems to be like for IT groups managing Apple {hardware}. Macs are lasting longer, IT groups are relying extra on automation and upkeep instruments, and AI is quietly changing into a part of on a regular basis IT staff workflows. On the similar time, useful resource gaps are rising, and most groups are understaffed. IT groups are being requested to assist bigger fleets with fewer folks, and they’re turning to group assist and new instruments to maintain up with ticket quantity, and many others.
About Apple @ Work:Â Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT community from 2009 to 2021. Via his expertise deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a cell gadget administration system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will spotlight methods by which Apple IT managers deploy Apple gadgets, construct networks to assist them, prepare customers, tales from the trenches of IT administration, and methods Apple may enhance its merchandise for IT departments.
The Mac is lasting longer than ever
One of the crucial mind-blowing findings within the survey is how lengthy Macs now keep in service on the corporations of these surveyed. Virtually half say their Macs stay in use for 3 to 5 years, which is a direct reflection of how wonderful even the M1 Apple Silicon chip is. M-series machines will not be getting old the way in which Intel {hardware} did. They run cooler, carry out the identical on day one thousand as they did on day one, and easily don’t have to be changed as typically. I nonetheless personal an authentic M1 Air, and it nonetheless runs nice.
For IT groups, this shift adjustments your complete rhythm of {hardware} administration. As an alternative of planning for normal substitute cycles pushed by efficiency points, groups are specializing in conserving folks productive and minimizing downtime. In some methods, this hurts Apple as a result of The longer lifespan additionally provides organizations extra respiratory room of their budgets, and in addition permits them a neater time going for increased finish options (extra RAM, bigger storage, and many others)When a Mac lasts 4 or 5 years with out changing into a significant situation, it lets corporations put money into higher administration instruments, stronger safety practices, and enhancements that assist the individuals who depend on these gadgets day-after-day. The machines are holding up, so IT can concentrate on the expertise round them. In fact, Apple makes cash from promoting {hardware}, so there’s that to contemplate, however total, the Mac is at an unimaginable place {hardware} sensible.
Doing extra with much less
I spoke to somebody within the IT business not too long ago, and we talked about how in IT, tasks are by no means finished. Did your staff roll out new software program? You assist it without end. Roll out new telephones? You’re now the cellphone division. The survey makes it clear that IT groups are being requested to do extra with much less. Practically 1/third of Mac admins say they’re already utilizing AI in elements of their workflows. That utilization will not be coming from a spot of pleasure. It’s coming from necessity. The report reveals an increase in admins who really feel they don’t have the sources they want.
IT is deploying extra gadgets than ever. Safety is all the time a significant concern, tet staffing will not be scaling on the similar tempo. What’s filling the hole is a mixture of group information, IT automation, and a rising set of AI-powered instruments that assist IT admins troubleshoot quicker. The survey reveals that greater than 1/2 of respondents are actually utilizing upkeep or optimization instruments to maintain Macs operating easily as effectively.
When groups can’t rent, they begin to depend on communities and distributors that bridge the hole. Locations just like the Mac Admins Slack and Apple’s official assist boards and documentation have gotten the primary place groups go for assist. The information exists, however it’s simply scattered the world over. AI will probably assist floor that information quicker, however the want is already right here. The Mac is less complicated to assist than ever, however the scale and the expectations maintain rising. IT groups are adapting as a result of they don’t have any alternative. I’ve extra concepts right here that I’ll develop upon in my article subsequent week.
Safety and Apple fleets
The survey additionally reveals an 8% rise in admins who need easier patching and software program replace workflows. This isn’t stunning. Because the {hardware} turns into extra secure, the work shifts to sustaining a well-functioning software program stack. Customers not often take into consideration updates till one thing breaks. IT groups continuously take into consideration them as a result of a single missed replace can create ripple results throughout lots of or hundreds of machines if there’s a zero-day vulnerability. Apple has improved this story rather a lot with the trendy M sequence structure and higher enforcement of updates, however there’s nonetheless room for instruments that simplify what occurs between the consumer and the OS.
The Mac will not be laborious to safe, however the surroundings surrounding it’s changing into more and more advanced. AI-powered threats are right here as SaaS sprawl will increase. Extra work is going on within the browser as an alternative of native apps. With distant work nonetheless frequent, IT groups are anticipated to maintain all of their Macs secure and up to date with out ever bodily touching them, whereas additionally not bothering customers.
Wrap up
MacPaw’s survey reveals a platform that has matured quicker than anybody anticipated. Macs are lasting longer, admins are relying extra on automation, and AI is slowly changing into a part of day by day workflows. On the similar time, IT groups are understaffed, coping with extra complexity than ever. The Mac is holding up its finish of the discount, however the ecosystem round it continues to develop, and that’s the place the actual frustrations now reside.
Apple @ Work is solely dropped at you by Mosyle, the one Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the one resolution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all of the options essential to seamlessly and robotically deploy, handle & shield Apple gadgets at work. Over 45,000 organizations belief Mosyle to make thousands and thousands of Apple gadgets work-ready with no effort and at an inexpensive value. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL in the present day and perceive why Mosyle is the whole lot you should work with Apple.
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