My experience with iOS user enrollment using Intune

Those of us who manage iOS devices have some new terminology to learn with iOS 13. Automated Device enrollment is new 😀 and what is iOS user enrollment all about?

Automated Device enrollment is the new name for the corporate Device enrollment program (DEP). iOS user enrollment (supported in iOS 13.1) was announced by Apple in June and is designed specifically for the BYOD scenario to address the privacy concerns of users and businesses. The enrolling user can choose between user and device enrollment when they are enrolling the device. iOS user enrollment has been compared to Android Enterprise with Work Profile where the work area of the device is completely separate from the personal area (strange to see Google before Apple with an enterprise solution). In this case the device is not fully managed.

Personally I don't like the terms user and device enrollment. My customers are used to the process being referred to as user-driven enrollment so this could be confusing. I'd much prefer the terms personal and corporate enrollment.

So what do we need for the solution?

Devices

We need iOS 13.1 or later devices. I prepared an iPhone and an iPad for my testing (a little more on this later).

Apple ID

We have to configure the Apple MDM Push certificate in the Intune portal as normal to facilitate the enrollment of Apple devices. However there is an additional requirement for iOS user enrollment. Each user must have a Managed Apple ID. I wasn't familiar with this so I had to do some research. You create Managed Apple Ids using the Apple Business Manager. This is a free tool (a slick new model of the Device Enrollment Program) but you need to be registered to take advantage of it. I don't have access so I won't be abe to create the required IDs. However I still want to see the user experience so I'll take it as far as I can. 

See here for more information on Manged Apple IDs

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-business-manager/mdm1c9622977/web

• This ID will control access to the corporate area of the device. 
• It should not be the same as the Apple ID associated with the device itself. That ID controls the personal area of the phone.
• You must sign in to Intune to start the enrollment using the Managed Apple ID.
• You will need a Volume Purchase Program token to deploy corporate apps to these devices.

So let's see the solution in action. How do we configure it?

In the Intune portal, navigate to Device enrollment > Apple enrollment. See the new section for Enrollment targeting. Click on Enrollment types, which is a preview feature.

 Click to create a profile.

We are presented with a single choice - iOS. 

Aside: I don't quite understand this. I've read somewhere that this is because iOS 13 differentiates between iOS and iPadOS devices and iPads are not supported for user enrollment. This does make sense but it's not the case in my experience, although I could be wrong. I was able to initiate user enrolment on both my test devices.

Enter a profile name and description.

I want users to have to choose the enrollment type so I'll select Required.

When you choose Required the default enrollment type choices are no longer available. See the note about needing the Azure Authenticator app in order for conditional access to work on devices targeted with user enrollment.

Assign the profile to a group - I've chosen All Users for my test.

Review your choices before you Create and assign the profile.

User experience

Now let's have a look at the user experience when enrolling a device. As usual it starts with the Intune Company Portal. Download from the App Store and Install.

Another corporate account was found on my test device so I chose to Sign in with another account.

I clicked on + to add an account.

This is where you should enter your Managed Apple ID. I don't have one so I'll wing it and see how far I can get.

Enter your password.

We're shown the list of steps that will be followed to complete the enrollment.

Ok, now this is different. I'm going to choose "I own this device".

When I do I am offered the options to secure the entire device or work related content only, cool. 

I chose "Secure work-related apps and data only".

We can see some progress.

We can see the Device management and privacy details - what your organization can't see on the device.....

….and what they can see. I don't quite understand why these dialog screens are exactly the same as those we see for device enrollment. Surely they should be different?

We see further progress.

We have to Allow the company portal website to download a configuration profile.

The management profile has downloaded and we're told to go the Settings to continue. We're familiar with this two-step enrollment with later iOS devices.

We see that we now should "Enrol in "your directory"".

Click "Enrol my iPhone" to continue.

Aside: I was also able to get this far with my test iPad so I'm not sure that it's true to say iPads are not yet supported".

Back to the iPhone - entered the existing passcode to install  the management profile.

Now I have to enter my Managed Apple ID. The ID is prepopulated based on the credentials I previously entered and it can't be changed or removed.

The process will finish and the device will be enrolled as a personal device.

Some thoughts on iOS user enrollment

iOS user enrollment is a really good idea and kudos to Microsoft for quickly integrating it with Intune. However I'm not sure Apple have got this right. Not all organizations will be able to use it. The requirement for DEP/Apple Business Manager and VPP programs can be a little too much for some organizations (not to mention testing in labs for IT Pros like me). Also the programs are not avilable in all countries.

It's certainly not as straightforward as testing Android Enterprise with Work Profile. Ironically it's easier to manage the entire device using device enrollment.

I hope you find this useful. Until next time...….