Microsoft Intune disables Apple Intelligence features

Microsoft recently announced that with Microsoft Intune, IT administrators now have control over Apple Intelligence features on Apple devices. These features are available in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, and can be customized by administrators to ensure productivity and security within organizations. 🔒💻

What does this mean for organizations? 🤔

IT administrators can now determine which Apple Intelligence features are available on devices within their organization. This helps them maintain a balance between productivity and data protection.

Key features that can be managed through Intune:

• Genmoji: If this feature is set to false, users cannot create new Genmoji.
  😄🚫
• Image Playground: Blocks the use of image generation when disabled.
  🖼️🔒
• Image Wand: Prevents the use of the Image Wand if this is set to ‘false’.
  ✨🚫
• Personal Handwriting Recognition: Prevents the system from generating text in the user’s handwriting.
  ✍️❌
• Writing Tools: Disables Apple Intelligence’s writing tools.
  ✏️⛔
• Intelligence (Skip Key): Allows users to skip the Intelligence panel in the Setup Assistant.
  🛠️⏭️
• Math Notes Mode: Determines whether math notes mode is enabled in the calculator.
  🧮✔️
• System behavior > Math Notes: Controls whether Math Notes is allowed in other apps such as Notes.
  📓➗

What does this mean for IT administrators? 🛠️

Microsoft Intune now offers day-zero support for the latest Apple operating systems, such as iOS/iPadOS 18.0 and macOS 15.0 Sequoia. With this update, administrators can easily manage new features such as iPhone Mirroring. This provides greater control over corporate devices while ensuring data security. However, it is important to note that these MDM controls do not apply to personal devices or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). 📱💻

Benefits of these new controls:

• Enhanced security: IT administrators can disable sensitive features to prevent data breaches. 🔐
• More control: Organizations can determine which positions are useful for their employees and which are potentially risky. ⚙️
• Increased productivity: By reducing unwanted functions, employees can better focus on their work without distractions. 🚀

With these new capabilities, Microsoft Intune provides organizations with the tools to create a secure, efficient and controllable work environment on Apple devices.

What’s new in iOS 18.0.1?

The first version of a major update like iOS 18 often still contains bugs and system errors. iOS 18.0.1 addresses many of these issues! Apple emphasizes that this update is all about “important bug fixes and security updates for your iPhone. Here are some of the issues Apple has fixed:

• 📱 Touchscreen issues: The screen of the iPhone 16 (Plus) and iPhone 16 Pro (Max) was sometimes unresponsive.
• 🎥 Camera freezes: On an iPhone 16 Pro (Max), the camera could freeze while recording 4K videos in macro mode when HDR was disabled.
• 🕑 Messages app crash: When replying to a message with an Apple Watch watch faceplate, the Messages app sometimes stopped suddenly.
• ⚡ Performance issues: A memory allocation problem negatively impacted the performance of certain iPhones.

Don’t expect new features in this update just yet. Those are likely to come with iOS 18.1, a larger interim update coming later this month. This will introduce the first features of Apple Intelligence, as previously announced by Apple.

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Conclusion: Thanks to the latest update to Microsoft Intune, organizations can now manage and customize Apple devices with greater confidence, ensuring an optimal balance between security and ease of use. 🌐🎯 Are you looking for the ideal solution for your modern workplace? Then visit our page on the Modern Workplace and discover how ALTA-ICT can support you with the latest technologies and solutions. We are happy to help you with advice and implementation of your IT environment! 💡👨‍💻