Managing Multiple Mac's (Business)
Managing Multiple Mac's (Business)
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MrSparks

Original Poster:

652 posts

137 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
We now have multiple mac's in our office, all logged in via one Apple ID.

However it seems that everything's linked! you can copy on one and paste on another, you can see browser tabs between macs etc. etc.

As a business, how should we be managing multiple Mac's for business?

It is simply a case of creating multiple Apple ID's or is there a better way?

Stupeo

1,343 posts

210 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
How many devices are you talking about?

Apple Business Manager might be worth a look - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-busine...


MrSparks

Original Poster:

652 posts

137 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
We currently only have 3 Mac's (all mine are on a personal apple ID so mine aren't an issue) but we're now looking to Mac's as default so this will grow over time.

Freakuk

4,043 posts

168 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
MrSparks said:
We now have multiple mac's in our office, all logged in via one Apple ID.

However it seems that everything's linked! you can copy on one and paste on another, you can see browser tabs between macs etc. etc.

As a business, how should we be managing multiple Mac's for business?

It is simply a case of creating multiple Apple ID's or is there a better way?
That's because you're using the same Apple ID, I think you can turn those features off within the settings if you need to.

How many Mac's are you talking here? If it's a handful it's probably not worth investing in any centralised management software, I would suggest that each person would have a non-admin logon though so they cannot make significant changes to the OS and install any software that they like, it shouldn't affect the way they work but it helps control what is installed and potentially consuming resources.

Likewise, would I be right in thinking because of the same Apple ID you are storing files in iCloud under the same ID, it's probably a good idea to have a shared area where people can file data, whether that be a local NAS and/or cloud (iCloud/Dropbox) which they could all access.

geeks

10,589 posts

156 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
Yes everyone should have an individual Apple ID. Apple Business Manager requires plugging into an MDM in order to be useful, Managed Apple IDs are not really on much use for reasons. OP, drop me a PM about this one if you like, I literally do this for a living smile

MrSparks

Original Poster:

652 posts

137 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
Thanks for your help everyone, looks like it's best just to create a few different Apple ID's then. There's only 4 mac's here in total (still trying to get some people to convert from Windows haha) so it's not a major requirement/issue.

We use Google Docs for storage and everything we do is web based so the iCloud etc isn't needed or used, it's purely to set the mac up and to install software as and when required.

miniman

28,500 posts

279 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
Longer term you might do well to look at Jamf.


geeks

10,589 posts

156 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
quotequote all
miniman said:
Longer term you might do well to look at Jamf.
Yup the gold standard for Mac management, but not always the most appropriate solution