Apple Introduces New Service to Help Small Businesses Thrive
Credit: Apple Toggle Dark Mode
Today in a press release, Apple announced its introduction of Apple Business Essentials, a new service available in beta. It provides small businesses of up to 500 employees with tools such as device management, 24/7 phone support for IT and end-users, business iCloud storage, and an option for on-site repairs.
Apple Business Essentials is designed to help streamline every step of employee device management within a small business — from setup, onboarding, and upgrading, to accessing fast service and prioritized support, all while keeping data backed up and secure, so companies can focus on running their business.
Susan Prescott
Essentially, the service is intended to support small businesses through the entire onboarding process and beyond as they work to make their business grow. Device setup and device upgrades are made seamless with strong security, prioritized support, and secure data storage and backup.
How Does It Work?
Employees simply use their work credentials to sign into their Apple device, and the Collections feature triggers the VPN configurations and Wi-Fi information to turn on automatically.
Collections will also install the Apple Business Essentials app on each employee’s home screen. From there, they can download specific corporate apps the business assigns to them.
Business owners can add AppleCare+ for Business Essentials to get 24/7 access to IT and end-user phone support. Additionally, this plan includes up to two annual device repairs per plan. End users can even initiate repairs themselves directly from the app and can expect a technician to arrive on-site to repair the devices in as little as four hours.
Apple Business Essentials plans allow each user within an organization to have up to three supported devices and up to 2TB of secure storage in iCloud. Prices start at $2.99 per month, with the option to add AppleCare+ for Apple Business Essentials. However, pricing for AppleCare+ for Business essentials has yet to be announced.
Starting today, the free beta period for Apple Business Essentials is available in the US, but AppleCare+ is not available at this time. The service is set to launch in the spring of 2022 fully.
