Migration Option in Apple Business and School Manager

Starting with iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26, Apple has introduced a device migration capability within Apple Business and Apple School Manager that allows organizations to migrate Automated Device Enrollment devices from one MDM solution to another without requiring a factory reset. Using the Add Deadline option during device assignment, administrators can schedule a migration to a new management service. Users are notified directly on their devices and guided through the reenrollment process. If no action is taken before the specified deadline, Apple can enforce the migration automatically. 

Organizations migrating from another MDM solution to Silverback may no longer need to rely on backup, restore and factory-reset procedures in all scenarios. Where supported by Apple Business and Apple School Manager and device operating system versions, devices can be migrated directly to Silverback through Apple's management service migration workflow

This migration method is available only for supported devices and operating system versions and should be considered the preferred approach for MDM-to-MDM migrations where supported. For additional information, please refer to:

• Migrate devices to a new management service in Apple Business
• Migrate devices to a new management service in Apple School Manager

Legacy Migration Scenarios

The migration scenarios described including the subchapters below were originally written before Apple introduced its built-in MDM migration capability in Apple Business and Apple School Manager. These scenarios remain relevant for devices that do not support the migration workflow described above, for environments where the feature is not available, or for organizations that choose not to use Apple's direct MDM-to-MDM migration process. For supported devices running current Apple operating system versions, administrators should evaluate Apple's native migration workflow first, as it can significantly simplify the transition to a new MDM service and may eliminate the need for a factory reset.

Migration Scenarios

• You have already Apple Business or Apple School Manager in place and devices are enrolled into your former Mobile Device Management Solution:
  • After connecting devices during the Out-of-the-Box experience to the internet, devices will immediately check with the Apple Cloud Service if they are belonging to an organization. The list of devices which are currently connected to the Device Program Enrollment can be found either in the devices section of your Apple Business or Apple School Manager or in the corresponding section in your former Mobile Device Management Solution.
  • To prevent that after any factory wipe, the devices are trying to connect during the OOBE to your former Mobile Device Management solution, you need to move the devices to your Silverback Server in the Apple Business or Apple School Manager. Both are supporting a bulk and single device migration by using the Edit Device Management option
  • When devices are migrated to the new Silverback Server in the Apple Business or Apple School Manager, devices can be factory wiped. In this case, utilize your former Mobile Device Management solution to execute a bulk factory wipe action. Afterwards users can start from the OOBE and enroll their devices to Silverback.
• You have already Apple Business or Apple School Manager in place and devices are enrolled into your former Mobile Device Management Solution, but you won’t factory wipe devices
  • Please note upfront: To get the full capabilities for managed devices that are part of the Device Enrollment Program, it is recommended to perform the factory wipe method.
  • Another option would be to simply perform a profile deletion (also know as enterprise wipe, retire, or delete business data) with your current Mobile Device Management solution. Additionally, and depending on your Device Enrollment Program configuration, users might be able to remove the profile manually from their devices by using the settings application. This option is only possible if you allowed in your current configuration to remove profiles manually. This setting is called in Silverback “Profile Removable” and should be named in a similar way in your current solution.
  • After removing the profiles via Enterprise Wipe or with the manual way, your users can easily start their enrollment process with Silverback by visiting the Silverback Self Service and perform the device enrollment to Silverback by themselves. Additionally, you can utilize the Bulk Enrollment option to provide your users an E-Mail Notification with the Enrollment QR-Code. In this case your users need just to scan the QR-Code with the camera and perform the OS driven enrollment flow. Please note that the Bulk Enrollment option should only be considered if Active Directory Authentication is not enabled in the Device Enrollment Program settings of Silverback. 
  • On top, please be aware that in this scenario the new installed Silverback MDM Profile will always be removable by your users, as in this case the Device Enrollment Program settings does not take effect. This means it is not possible to ensure that devices will remain managed, as users can remove the profile manually. Only when devices are gets factory wiped and re-provisioned through the OOBE, the “Profile Removable” will be activated on the devices.

Fast facts about Backup and Restore

Starting with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, Apple no longer includes device management information in device backups. As a result, enrollment profiles, management configurations and supervision status are not restored when a backup is applied to a device running these operating system versions. For devices running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 or earlier, encrypted backups include management configuration data, including enrollment information, supervision status, configuration profiles and associated profile data. Administrators should take this behavior into account when planning device migrations based on backup and restore procedures, as management settings may need to be re-established after the restore process. After understanding these key points, we want to provide you some key facts about using Backup Mechanisms:

1. iOS and iPadOS Backup is first a consumer feature, and it may be that your desired expectation about keeping everything on the device and switching to another Mobile Device Management solution does not match.
2. Every Backup that contains an existing Mobile Device Management Profile on the device might lead to an undesired restore process. If users perform a backup while the devices are still enrolled in your former solution, the management profile will also be backup, and, subsequently, re-applied to the device at the point of restore.
3. For Devices with personal data on it, users can back up their devices to their iCloud account after the device is unenrolled from the previous Mobile Device Management solution. Ensure you don’t have restricted the devices with your current solution to take iCloud Backups. This setting is named in Silverback “Allow iCloud Backup” in the Restriction Profile. 
4. With Quick Start users can set up a new iOS device quickly using information from their current devices, but if the backup should be restored on a new iPhone which is enrolled in Apple School Manager or Apple Business, users can't use Quick Start to transfer data from your current iPhone as the process will not be successful. 

Success and Failure Stories

After understanding the Backup key points, we can review now some use cases with success and failure:

• Usecase 1: User owned for 2 years a non-DEP iPhone 6s and receives now a new DEP linked iPhone X. The MDM solution remains the same.

What will not work?

User performs a backup of the old device with iTunes while it is in enrolled into your Mobile Device Management solution. The new device will be started, and the Mobile Device Management Profile will be installed during the OOBE. Afterwards the user restores the device from the old backup, where the old profile was installed. This will lead to the “Profile must be installed interactively” issue and devices requires a hard reset, which not all users can executed independently.

What will work?

User performs a backup of the old device with iTunes while it is in enrolled into your Mobile Device Management solution. The new device will be started and during the OOBE, the iTunes Backup will be restored from the PC or MacBook. For this scenario the “Restore Setup” Item should not be configured as hidden in the Device Enrollment Program section. Additionally , you need to ensure to set the Allow Restore from Backup option as enabled in the Admin section of your Silverback Management Console. If this option is disabled, Silverback will instantly send the Delete Business Data to the new devices and the device will be in an unmanaged state. In this case Administrators receives a Backup Violation E-Mail notification.