Manage Setup Assistant for Apple devices
You can have all Setup Assistant panes skipped for all your Apple devices by using mobile device management (MDM) and Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials. Sometimes you may not want users to make specific choices about how their devices are initially configured. You can prevent users from configuring initial settings for supervised Apple devices as long as their devices are enrolled in an MDM solution and assigned in Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials. The device must also support the feature for configuration to be permitted. For example, if the device lacks support for Touch ID, the Touch ID setup pane doesn’t appear.
Note: Not all Setup Assistant options are available in all MDM solutions. To learn which MDM Setup Assistant options are available for your devices, consult your MDM vendor’s documentation.
Passkey and hardware security key support during enrolment
In macOS 15 or later, Setup Assistant supports ASWebAuthenticationSession, allowing support for passkeys and supported hardware security keys during enrolment.
Setup Assistant parity
The following options (already available in iOS and iPadOS) can be used in macOS 15 or later, for a seamless setup experience:
Welcomeas part of Skip Keys for Automated Device EnrolmentSkipSetupItemsin the Setup Assistant profile payload
Removing the . AppleSetupDone file
In macOS 14 or later, removing the /private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone file no longer relaunches Setup Assistant if a local user already exists on the Mac. Use either Erase All Contents and Settings or the erase command to reset the device, and then go through Setup Assistant to configure the device for a new user.
Requirement for internet access in Setup Assistant
The first time a Mac with macOS 13 or later is set up and connected to a network, it’s acknowledged as being owned by an organisation (Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials). As long as the device remains registered to the organisation, when the device is erased, Setup Assistant requires a network connection to proceed with future activations. The Mac computer requires Apple silicon or an Apple T2 Security Chip.
If you’re using Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials
If your organisation is using Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials to enrol devices in an MDM solution to manage them:
A device can be kept in Setup Assistant while it’s configured by your MDM solution, before the user starts interacting with it.
A customised Setup Assistant can be provided, letting you add things such as a user agreement or modern authentication methods.
All Setup Assistant panes can be skipped using your MDM solution so that a user can’t interact with them. When a pane is skipped, the more privacy-preserving setting for that feature is used.
If a Mac or Apple TV is plugged into Ethernet and the MDM solution can be located on the network or the internet, all Setup Assistant panes can be skipped and the device can be entirely set up without touching it using Auto Advance. For more information, see Auto Advance and Automated Device Enrolment (macOS) and Auto Advance for Automated Device Enrolment with Apple TV.
Important: Unless you also permanently restrict these features using your MDM solution, users can set up any of the settings that were set to the default values after the Apple device is set up.
Set-up Assistant pane options
The following table shows all available Setup Assistant panes, whether they can be managed by a profile or a key in the Setup Assistant payload, the minimum operating system and what happens when the pane is hidden from the user.
Setup Assistant pane | Device | If the pane is hidden from the user |
|---|---|---|
Accessibility | Mac | The user can’t hear VoiceOver automatically. For this pane to be hidden, the Mac must:
|
App Analytics | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The user can’t choose whether to send diagnostic app data to developers. |
Appearance | iPhone iPad Mac | The user can’t select the appearance mode. |
Apple Account | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The user can’t enter their Apple Account. |
Apple Pay | iPhone iPad Mac | The user can’t enable Apple Pay. Requires Touch ID and Apple Account to be enabled. |
Apple Watch migration | iPhone | The user can’t migrate their Apple Watch data. |
Country or region (Can be skipped using Apple Configurator) | iPhone iPad Apple TV | The user can’t select the country or region matches the region of the connected device. |
Data and privacy | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The user doesn’t see the Privacy consent window. |
Device-to-device migration | iPhone iPad | The user can’t migrate data from a nearby iPhone or iPad. Note: This option is never shown if the new device was added to Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials. |
Display Zoom | iPhone iPad | The user can’t select from the standard or zoomed Display Zoom setting. |
FileVault | Mac | The user can’t enable FileVault. |
Home Button feedback | iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 8 iPhone SE | The user can’t set the style of feedback for the Home button. |
iCloud Desktop and Documents | Mac | The user can’t set up iCloud Desktop and Documents. |
iCloud Diagnostics | Mac | The user can’t choose whether to send diagnostic iCloud data to Apple. Requires Apple Account to be enabled. |
iMessage and FaceTime | iPhone iPad | The user can’t enable iMessage and FaceTime. |
Language (Can be skipped using Apple Configurator) | iPhone iPad Apple TV | The user can’t select the language matches the language of the connected device. |
Location Services | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The user can’t configure Location Services. |
Move data from an Android device | iPhone | If the Set Up as New or Restore pane is not skipped, this key can prevent the user from moving data from an Android device. |
New Feature Highlights | iPhone iPad | The user can’t learn about new features of Apple software. If not, multiple new feature panes may appear. |
Passcode and password lock | iPhone iPad Mac | The user can’t alter the passcode or password from the managed setting. If there’s no passcode, the user is unable to use Touch ID or Apple Pay. |
Quick Start | iPhone iPad Apple TV | The user can’t set up the Apple Account and passcode from a nearby iPhone or iPad. Note: This pane always appears on devices configured for the first time and can be hidden by MDM after the device is erased. |
Remote Management | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | This pane can’t be skipped if the device was added to Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials and Automated Device Enrolment in MDM is used. |
Restore completed | iPhone iPad | Skips the Restore Completed pane |
Screen Time | iPhone iPad Mac | The user can’t enable Screen Time. |
See the world | Apple TV | The user can’t download videos provided by Apple. |
Set Up as New or Restore | iPhone iPad Mac | For an iPhone and iPad, the user can’t:
For macOS devices, the user can’t:
|
Set up mobile data | iPhone iPad with eSIM | The user can’t add a mobile plan. |
Set up your Apple TV | Apple TV | The user can’t configure their Apple TV. |
Sign in to your TV provider | Apple TV | The user can’t sign in to their TV provider. |
Siri | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The user can’t configure Siri. |
Software update | iPhone iPad Mac | The user won’t see the “keep your device up to date” pane. |
Software update completed | iPhone iPad | The user can’t see whether a software update is performed during Set-up Assistant. |
Sync Apple TV Home Screen layout | Apple TV | The user can’t use the same Home Screen for more than one Apple TV. |
Terms and conditions | iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV | The terms and conditions aren’t shown to the user. The serial number of the device must appear in Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials for this screen to be hidden. |
Touch ID Face ID | iPhone and iPad devices that support Touch ID or Face ID Mac computers that support (Touch ID) | The user can’t enable Touch ID or Face ID to unlock the device or authenticate to apps that use Touch ID or Face ID. |
True Tone Display | Supported iPhone, iPad and Mac devices | The user can’t enable four-channel sensors to dynamically adjust the white balance of the display. |
Unlock with Apple Watch | Mac | The user can’t use their Apple Watch to unlock the Mac. |
Welcome | iPhone iPad | The user can’t see the Get Started pane. |
Where is the Apple TV | Apple TV | The user can’t select the room for the Apple TV. |