Apple Business Essentials goes free as Apple merges enterprise tools into Apple Business

Today, Apple announced a massive shift in how it approaches the enterprise market. On April 14, Apple will merge all of its business and enterprise tools under a single, unified platform simply called Apple Business. The biggest news in this announcement is that the built-in mobile device management features (previously a paid subscription under Apple Business Essentials) will be completely free for organizations in over 200 countries.

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For years, Apple has had its business tools scattered across different portals and services. You had Apple Business Manager for deployments and apps, Apple Business Essentials for small business device management, and Apple Business Connect for managing how your brand appeared in Maps and other services.

On April 14, those three portals will merge into a new single platform. Existing customers and data will automatically migrate to the new unified Apple Business platform. This system covers four main pillars: device management, people management, brand management, and support. Instead of hopping between three different websites, an administrator can now handle everything from a single dashboard.

Managing devices and people

By bundling device management directly into the free Apple Business platform, Apple is making it clear that business devices need to be managed. It now includes “Blueprints” to easily set up devices with preconfigured settings right out of the box.

The update also expands how IT teams handle their directory and roles. Apple is introducing a whole new set of custom roles, allowing for granular control over who can assign devices or manage apps without giving everyone full administrator access. They are also expanding the Admin API for custom reporting.

On the end-user side, Apple Business enables automated Managed Apple Account creation via identity providers like Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID. Later this year, a new companion Apple Business app will allow employees to install work apps, view a company directory, and request support on the go. Note that this companion app will require iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26.

While the core device management and brand management features are free for businesses, Apple is offering paid iCloud storage upgrades directly within the portal. 5GB is included for free. Customers in the US can purchase additional iCloud storage up to 2 TB per user, starting at $0.99 per user per month. AppleCare+ for Business is also available starting at $6.99 per month per device or $13.99 per month per user, covering up to three devices.

Brand management

Apple is enabling businesses to display a consistent brand across the entire Apple ecosystem. This includes custom Tap to Pay branding on the iPhone payment screen and managed Maps place cards.

IT and marketing teams can now collaborate within the same portal to ensure that when a customer taps to pay or searches in Apple Maps, the experience is consistent with the company’s brand. Apple is also providing location insights on how customers are engaging with your brand across these touchpoints.

9to5Mac’s take

There is a lot to like here with this announcement. Unifying everything under Apple Business is a massive win for Apple’s focus on helping customers succeed with their hardware. Simplifying the portal experience while dropping the monthly fee for basic device management removes the biggest friction points for small businesses. I do not think this will notreplace more robust device management platforms like Mosyle, Jamf, Addigy, or Iru for complex deployments, but it is the perfect zero-touch alternative for small IT teams.

Apple also announced some major new features for this platform, regarding fully hosted email at your business domain and a new advertising platform coming to Apple Maps this summer.