Being a part of the Mac Admins Slack has made it clear that there are perennial problems that everyone seems to run into when it comes to managing Apple devices. Wanting to solve these issues at the school district I am a part of led me to also want to help those at other schools who are dealing with the exact same issues. I delivered a presentation at Vita-Learn’s VermontFest in November 2024 on the topic of updating your school’s legacy Apple School Manager instance: https://vermontfest2024.sched.com/.

The overarching thought that shaped this presentation is that enough has changed in how Apple School Manager operates that right now is a prime time to update one’s approach to using it for managing Apple devices. Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, circumstances have made it easy to find oneself in a situation where the traditional way that Apple devices have been rolled out in schools is at odds with current best practices in Apple device management vis-a-vis Apple School Manager. Importantly, however, is that Apple has recently given new tools that make updating one’s legacy environment easier than ever before. Further, if one is trying to be prepared for the future of Apple devices, implementing these changes allows one to make a clean break with traditional management and prepares one to take full advantage of new directions in Apple services that are implied by these recent changes.

In particular the talk focused on the updated features surrounding Activation Lock and Managed Apple Accounts that were first announced at WWDC 2024. As it so happens, these two components have traditionally been a thorn in the side of school IT teams in terms of both device and data management. The presentation linked below includes both the slides and the most important commentary that were made during the presentation itself. My sincere hope is that the information provided will help schools realize the value of making the effort to update their legacy Apple environment.