Resolve unexpected Setup Assistant behavior

Setup Assistant should display the Remote Management screen showing “Your organization is managing this Mac” during the enrollment process. When device management enrollment fails, users can’t access organizational apps, settings, and security configurations.

• What to look for:

  • Remote Management screen doesn’t appear.

  • “Enrolling with management service failed. Retry.” message appears.

  • Mac can’t contact the device management service.

• Steps to take:

  1. Verify network connectivity by connecting to a reliable Wi-Fi or Ethernet network with open access.

  2. Confirm device assignment in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager that the Mac is assigned to the correct device management service.

  3. Check the Mac serial number with your device management service administrator to confirm it appears in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager prior to enrollment.

  4. Use the Mac Evaluation Utility to confirm access to required ports and Apple servers (requires access to AppleSeed for IT).

  5. Review Use Apple products on enterprise networks for access to additional required Apple servers.

     Note: If the profile isn’t pushed or fails to install, the Mac won’t be enrolled in device management and will behave like an unmanaged Mac. If this happens, contact your device management service administrator.

After selecting Language and Region, Setup Assistant prompts for Wi-Fi network selection. Without Wi-Fi connectivity, the Mac may skip Remote Management enrollment entirely, preventing device management configuration.

• What to look for:

  • The Wi-Fi Network prompt appears after choosing Language and Region.

  • The Mac skips Remote Management when no Wi-Fi is connected.

  • Setup process halts without network configuration.

• Steps to take:

  1. Select available Wi-Fi network from the list of detected networks.

  2. Contact device management administrator if Wi-Fi isn’t preconfigured through device management profiles.

  3. Use Ethernet connection as alternative if Wi-Fi configuration fails.

  4. Verify network credentials if connecting to secured Wi-Fi networks.

• What to look for:

  • Enrolling with management service failed. Retry.” message.

  • “Could not contact the management service.” message.

  • The Mac can’t reach deviceenrollment.apple.com, mdmenrollment.apple.com, or ipregistry.apple.com.

• Steps to take:

  1. Check the Apple System Status page for current outages or maintenance.

  2. Use the Mac Evaluation Utility to confirm access to required ports and Apple servers (requires access to AppleSeed for IT).

  3. Review network configuration with your network administrator to ensure access to required ports and URLs.

  4. Review Use Apple products on enterprise networks for access to additional required Apple servers.

Setup Assistant may display “Setting up your Mac” screen while installing apps pushed by device management. Missing apps during setup indicate configuration or licensing issues.

• What to look for:

  • “Setting up your Mac” screen appears during setup.

  • Apps are missing without error messages.

  • Setup screen displays for extended time before timing out.

• Steps to take:

  1. Review device management logs in your organization’s device management portal.

  2. Verify app licenses in the device management service for sufficient Apps and Books content licenses.

  3. Check app assignments to confirm the app profile is assigned to the specific device.

  4. Wait for background installation as some apps may install after initial setup completes.

Users may encounter issues signing in with unmanaged Apple Accounts during Setup Assistant, preventing access to iCloud services and App Store.

• Check the Apple System Status page to make sure that there are no outages or scheduled maintenances currently affecting Apple Accounts or iCloud.

• Verify the internet connection to ensure that the device is connected to a stable internet connection.

• Check Apple Account credentials to confirm that they’re correct. Sign in to account.apple.com.

• Create the account later. If issues persist, choose to set up the device without an Apple Account and sign in later in System Settings.

For more information, see If you can’t connect or sign in to iCloud and If your Apple Account is locked, not active, or disabled.

• What to look for:

  • Unable to sign in with unmanaged Apple Account credentials.

  • Error messages during account creation or sign-in process.

  • Account verification or authentication failures.

• Steps to take:

  1. Check the Apple System Status page to make sure that there are no outages or scheduled maintenances currently affecting Apple Accounts or iCloud.

  2. Verify internet connection stability and reliability.

  3. Test account credentials by signing in at account.apple.com.

  4. Skip account setup and configure the Apple Account later in System Settings.

     For persistent Apple Account issues, see the Apple Support articles If you can’t connect or sign in to iCloud and If your Apple Account is locked, not active, or disabled.

After erasing a device, Mac contacts Apple during activation to check for Activation Lock status. Two types of Activation Lock can protect devices from unauthorized use.

• What to look for:

  • Activation Lock screen appears on “Activating Mac” screen after device erase.

  • Setup process stops at activation verification step.

• What’s happening:

  • User-linked Activation Lock turns on automatically when users turns on Find My. Apple stores the Apple Account credentials on activation servers and links them to the device.

  • Organization-linked Activation Lock can be turned on for supervised devices by device management administrators using bypass codes or Managed Apple Account credentials.

• Steps to take:

  1. Enter Apple Account credentials for user-linked Activation Lock using the unmanaged Apple Account that enabled Find My.

  2. Use the bypass code for organization-linked Activation Lock from your device management service, or enter the Managed Apple Account credentials used to link the service to Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager.

  3. Request the person in your organization with Manage Devices privileges to turn off Activation Lock for the device in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager.

  4. Submit support request with proof-of-ownership documentation including serial number, IMEI, or MEID. Contact Apple Support to initiate an Activation Lock support request for devices you own.

     Note: To prevent Activation Lock issues, ask users to sign out of unmanaged Apple Accounts before erasing devices. On supervised devices, use a device management service to prevent users from turning on user-linked Activation Lock.

When a Mac encounters setup issues that require system recovery, macOS Recovery performs a local installation using the recovery system paired with the current macOS version. Recovery doesn’t install from the internet but uses the version of macOS Recovery that’s already on the device.

• What to look for:

  • Setup Assistant fails to complete after multiple attempts.

  • macOS appears to need recovery or reinstallation.

  • The Mac starts up to macOS Recovery automatically.

• Steps to take:

  1. Restart in macOS Recovery by pressing and holding the power button until you see startup options, then click Options.

  2. Use the paired recoveryOS, which contains the recovery macOS version that matches the installed version.

  3. Reinstall macOS using the local recovery system without internet download.

  4. Contact the device management service administrator if recovery issues persist with managed devices.