What’s new for enterprise in iPadOS 17

Find out about the enterprise content that Apple has released for iPadOS 17.

iPadOS 17 updates improve the stability, performance or compatibility of your device and are recommended for all users. Device administrators can manage software updates using an MDM solution.

For information about general improvements, find out about iPadOS 17 updates.

For details about the security content of these updates, see Apple security releases.

iPadOS 17.6

• Restricting wallpaper modification now applies to Focus modes.

• Users will no longer be prompted to sign in to FaceTime when the app is restricted.

• AirPrint can now be used with printers on different VLANs.

• An issue was resolved where Smart Punctuation could apply to password fields.

iPadOS 17.5

• iPadOS now supports multi-app assessment mode.

• MDM can now enforce a specific beta version at Setup Assistant when using Automated Device Enrolment.

• A new MDM restriction is available to prevent installing apps through Web Distribution.

• Solves a problem with scanning barcodes on certain iPad devices.

• The Photos app properly enforces restrictions against printing, setting wallpaper and enabling iCloud Photos.

• Improved reliability of students appearing online in the Classroom app.

• Improved stability of updating apps while in Single App Mode.

• Per App VPN connects reliably on first use.

iPadOS 17.4.1

• Resolves an issue scanning QR codes on certain iPad models.

iPadOS 17.4

• MDMs can install thinned apps to save time, storage and bandwidth.

• Resolves an issue where Enterprise apps failed to launch on Shared iPads.

• The command to set wallpaper no longer fails on subsequent attempts.

iPadOS 17.2

• Teachers signed in to an iPad with their Managed Apple ID can use that device to sign students in to their devices. This must be turned on in Apple School Manager to use.

• Introduced a key, allowLiveVoicemail, to allow enabling or disabling of Live Voicemail via MDM.

• Devices no longer fail to complete extensible SSO authentication that requires multiple steps.

• Passcode policy wipe will no longer delete configured eSIM(s) when the new forcePreserveESIMOnErase key is set to True.

• The global proxy profile no longer causes AirDrop discovery requests to time out.

• Resolves an issue where sharing crashes caused excessive mobile data and Wi-Fi data use.

• Exchange calendars are now shown as an option in default Calendar settings.

• Devices are now able to locate AirPrint printers outside of the .local domain.

iPadOS 17.1

• Continuity features can be used with Managed Apple IDs.

• Always on VPN users are now able to make mobile and Wi-Fi calls, use mobile data and send SMS/MMS messages.

• Resolves an issue with iOS devices losing communication with MDM.

iPadOS 17.0.3

• Resolves an issue where Business Essentials users were unable to complete the setup process after updating to iPadOS 17.

• iPadOS 17 devices no longer become unresponsive when joining a managed Wi-Fi network.

• The Calendar app will no longer resend invitations to all participants after accepting or declining an Exchange event invitation.

iPadOS 17

iPadOS 17 includes new features, bug fixes and improvements for enterprise and education deployments.

Device Management

• MDMs can enable account-driven Device Enrolment to allow users to enrol their iOS or iPadOS device into management using their organisation’s Managed Apple ID in Settings.

• Apple Configurator running on iPadOS 17 can now assign a device to an MDM server while it is being added to Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials.

• Sign-in with Apple automatically uses the Managed Apple ID for Managed Apps and a personal Apple ID for non-managed apps.

• MDMs can now enforce a minimum operating system version on enrolling devices when using Automated Device Enrolment.

• Declarative device management can now be used to manage updates on iOS and iPadOS.

• iPadOS now provides support for private, data-only mobile networks using LTE, 5G Non-standalone (NSA) or 5G Standalone (SA).

• With Return to Service, MDM can send an erase command including Wi-Fi details, and an optional MDM enrolment profile, so the device can erase all data and proceed to the Home Screen automatically, ready to be used.

• An Apple Watch can be enrolled and managed by MDM when paired to a supervised iPhone.

• New declarations support the deployment of certificates and identities using ACME, SCEP or an encrypted PKCS#12 container, and certificates such as .pem or .der encoded files.

• Certificates from a self-signed Certificate Authority (CA) are added to the device’s trusted root certificates automatically.

• Devices enrolled with User Enrolment can now be configured to disallow Auto Lock from being set to Never, which helps to protect organisational data.

Shared iPad enhancements

• Using Shared iPad devices? Please refer to “Upgrade your Shared iPad to iPadOS 17” for important information regarding the upgrade process.

• iPadOS 17 allows an MDM solution to fully configure Shared iPad for a particular user after they’ve signed in, ensuring the device is ready to go when the user is presented with the Home Screen.

• In iPadOS 17, new users can skip the setup process on their devices.

• Skip setup: to streamline the sign-in flow even further, a new SkipLanguageAndLocaleSetupForNewUsers option tells the device to use the system settings for all new users.

• Temporary session: a Shared iPad configured for temporary sessions now honours the QuotaSize key for the temporary user. This key helps reserve sufficient space to install apps or other media while a user is signed in.

Bug fixes and other improvements

• Cancelled Exchange events no longer remain on the Calendar if they’ve been deleted elsewhere.

• Devices respond to MDM more reliably.

• Apple devices now support connection to 802.1X networks using EAP-TLS with TLS 1.3 (EAP-TLS 1.3).

• With Network Relay, a secure HTTP/3 or HTTP/2 relay can be configured to proxy all TCP and UDP traffic.

• iOS and iPadOS devices support configuring 802.1X over Ethernet.