Apple Business Essentials now available in the US — Here’s what you need to know

Apple has launched its new Apple Business Essentials subscription service for business user in the US, offering device management, support, and iCloud storage for a single monthly fee for businesses with up to 500 employees.

Apple announced the all-new Apple Business Essentials subscription last November, introducing three subscription plans touted as being a “complete solution that makes employee onboarding simple,” allowing a small business to configure, deploy, and manage Apple products from anywhere.

Following the beta period beginning last year, Apple says “thousands of small businesses in the Apple Business Essentials beta reported significant time savings and renewed ability to focus on their mission,” with the service brings together device management, 24/7 Apple support, and iCloud storage into flexible subscription plans for businesses, including those without dedicated IT staff.

Image: Apple

Within Apple Business Essentials, Collections enable IT personnel to configure settings and apps for individual users, groups, or devices. IT managers can enforce critical security settings such as FileVault for full-disk encryption on Mac, and Activation Lock to protect devices that may be lost or stolen, with measures in place to ensure these can’t be switched off by employees.

“Small businesses are at the core of our economy, and we’re proud that Apple products play a role in helping these companies grow,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing. “Apple Business Essentials is designed to help streamline every step of employee device management within a small business — from setup, onboarding, and upgrading, to accessing fast service and prioritized support, all while keeping data backed up and secure, so companies can focus on running their business.”

Beginning today, businesses now have the option to add prioritized support for employee devices with AppleCare+ for Business Essentials.

Prices for Apple Business Essentials start at $2.99 per device/mo for a single device plan, stretching to $6.99 per user/mo for the multi-device plan with 20GB of iCloud storage. A two-month free trial is available to all customers, including those who have been using Apple Business Essentials in beta.