Use Your Apple Watch to Unlock Your Mac, and Apps in Catalina
Apple Releases Redesigned Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR
Need to Move Lots of Data Between Macs? Try Target Disk Mode
Make Sure to Test Your Backup System with Occasional Restores
Make Sure to Test Your Backup System with Occasional Restores
Did you know that the word for the irrational fear of Friday the 13th is paraskevidekatriaphobia? Neither did we, but what that supposedly unlucky day is good for—whenever it rolls around—is reminding us to test our backup systems. If something does go wrong, backups can save your bacon, but only if they’re actually working. So on Friday the 13th this month, take a few minutes to make sure you can restore files from Time Machine, see if you can boot from your bootable duplicate, and generally verify that your data really is being backed up successfully. And if you’ve already missed the 13th, today is a fine day to make up for it with a quick test.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
You know you need these tips!
- Make a Backup before Upgrading to Catalina or iOS 13!
- Learn How to Autofill SMS Login Codes in iOS 12 and Mojave
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Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Apple-Driven Workplaces
Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Apple-Driven Workplaces
If you run a company, you know how much work onboarding a new employee can be. Beyond teaching them the ropes of your business, they’ll need a Mac and potentially an iPhone or iPad as well. Setting those devices up with all the right apps, settings, and logins can take days or even weeks. And that’s just for one person—imagine if you need to lather, rinse, and repeat for dozens or even hundreds of new employees?
The solution is Apple Business Manager, which ensures that every Apple device you purchase is associated with your corporate account—and in some cases, with a particular user—before it’s shipped to you. That enables zero-touch configuration and makes manual setup a thing of the past. Here’s how we make this happen.
We’ll work with someone at your company—your Business Contact—to set you up with two Apple programs: Apple Custom Store and Apple Business Manager. Your Business Contact will merely need to respond to some email messages from Apple and have a call with Apple to verify that they can agree to Apple’s Terms & Conditions on behalf of your company.
Apple Custom Store
The first program, Apple Custom Store, provides a customized corporate store for purchasing Apple devices. That’s important because all devices purchased through your Apple Custom Store are automatically tied to your company. In fact, they’re connected to your company until you intentionally release them while decommissioning, which can help protect against theft or employees keeping devices they shouldn’t.
Even more important, all new Mac purchases must go through the Apple Custom Store because there’s no easy way to add Macs purchased in any other way to Apple Business Manager.
Once you’re set up with an Apple Custom Store, we can suggest custom device configurations tailored to your company’s needs and even create templates for systems customized for different job roles. As a bonus, you’ll receive special “loyalty pricing” based on your annual purchase volume.
Apple Business Manager
The second program, Apple Business Manager, is what enables you to enroll and manage devices purchased through your Apple Custom Store. When we say “manage” we’re talking about mobile device management, or MDM. In essence, MDM systems allow IT administrators to define “profiles” that specify your company’s settings and policies. Those might be particular to a user, such as configuring email login credentials, or they might be general to everyone, such as security policies that require all iOS devices to use a six-digit passcode and Macs to turn on their screensavers after 2 minutes and require a password to unlock. And, of course, an MDM system lets your company control when to install operating system updates, ensuring that nothing happens before you’re ready.
You use Apple Business Manager to associate a new device purchased from your Apple Custom Store with the employee who will be receiving it. When the device arrives, the employee unboxes it and turns it on, and your MDM system goes to work downloading apps and configuring settings. Once the employee signs in with their credentials, the MDM system continues to configure the device for that person. No one from IT even has to touch it—hence “zero-touch” configuration.
Enrolling your devices in your MDM system via Apple Business Manager doesn’t just help with initial deployment. Employee turnover is a fact of life, and with a device in Apple Business Manager, you can use your MDM system to redeploy a device quickly by wiping it and re-enrolling it for the new employee.
We recommend that all Apple-using businesses purchase through an Apple Custom Store and use Apple Business Manager to tie those devices to the company’s MDM system. Contact us for more information about what’s involved, and for our MDM recommendations.
(Featured image by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
More stuff you should read…
- Forrester Research and IBM Studies Show Macs Are Cheaper than PCs
- Macs Switching from Intel Chips to Apple Silicon: Answers to Your Questions
- Beware Scammers when Selling Your Old Tech Hardware Online
- New 16-inch MacBook Pro Sports a Redesigned Scissor-Switch Keyboard
- Apple Releases Redesigned Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR
More great tips from the archives…
- Two Secret Key Combos for Forward Delete on the Magic and MacBook Keyboards
- iCloud Photo Library Users: Do NOT Turn Off iCloud
- Ever Wondered Which Words to Capitalize in a Title? Use Capitalize My Title!
- Tips for Setting Up a Comfortable and Effective Home Work Space
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- The Fastest Way to Change Wi-Fi Networks in iOS
- What to Put at the End of Your Emails
- Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Apple-Driven Workplaces
Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems
Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems
If you’re experiencing a sporadic problem with your Mac, the sort of thing that happens often enough to be annoying but not so frequently as to be reproducible, allow us to suggest one little-known troubleshooting tip. Malfunctioning USB devices—keyboards, mice, hubs, printers, etc.—can sometimes cause truly inscrutable problems ranging from startup issues to kernel panics. USB-caused issues aren’t common, but when they do happen, they can be challenging to track down. If you’ve tried everything else, disconnect all unnecessary USB devices and, if possible, swap your wired keyboard and mouse for another set. Then see if the problem goes away.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
Looking for more troubleshooting tips?
- How to Ask for Tech Support So You Get Good Answers Quickly
- Having Mac Troubles? Running Apple Diagnostics May Help Identify the Problem
- Troubles with Messages? Read On for Ten Possible Solutions
- iCloud Services Being Wonky? Check Apple’s System Status Page
Data Backup Strategies Go Only So Far—What’s Your Plan If Your Mac Dies?
What Does Having a T2 Chip in Your Mac Mean to You?
Do You Put Dates in Filenames? Use This Format for Best Sorting
Do You Put Dates in Filenames? Use This Format for Best Sorting
There are plenty of situations where it makes sense to put a date in a filename, but if you don’t use the right date format, the files may sort in unhelpful ways. For instance, using the names of months is a bad idea, since they’ll sort alphabetically, putting April before January. And although the Mac’s Finder is smart enough to sort filename-3 before filename-20, most other operating systems are not (because 2 comes before 3). So, to make your life—and the lives of everyone with whom you share files—a little easier, use this date format, which is guaranteed to sort correctly everywhere: YYYY-MM-DD. That translates to a four-digit year, followed by a two-digit month (with a leading zero if necessary), and a two-digit day (again, with a leading zero if need be).
(Featured image by Henry & Co. on Unsplash)
Got another minute? Check these tips out.
- Avoid Ransom Requests with a Unique iCloud Password
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- Did You Know You Can Make a Video of Anything on Your iPhone or iPad Screen?
- Did You Know Families Can Share Mac and iOS Apps Purchased from the App Store?
