On iOS and iPadOS 26 and later, you can move company iPhones and iPads off your old MDM without erasing them. The device migrates itself, keeps its data, and stays supervised. On anything older, the only route is a wipe — so the operating system version decides the whole plan.

Overview

This covers company-owned iPhones and iPads that are registered in Apple Business and currently enrolled with another MDM through Automated Device Enrolment. Macs follow a separate procedure, and devices that were never in Apple Business cannot use this at all.

What you need before you start:

• The device is company-owned and registered in Apple Business
• It is enrolled with the previous MDM through Automated Device Enrolment
• iOS or iPadOS 26 or later for a migration that does not erase it
• Administrator access to Apple Business, with a role that can set migration deadlines
• Apple Business already connected as an MDM server on our side
• A valid Apple push certificate

How to use 

Prepare before you touch anything

The migration strips out everything the old MDM installed. Some of it cannot be recovered afterwards, so this order matters.

1. Move your volume purchase token. Remove it from the old MDM first, then connect it here. Never leave the same token active in two MDMs.
2. Rebuild your configuration first. Every profile the old MDM installed disappears: Wi-Fi, restrictions, mail accounts, all of it. Recreate what you need beforehand so it lands the moment each device enrols.
3. Export the Activation Lock bypass codes from the old MDM. The migration invalidates them, and once the old MDM is decommissioned they are gone for good. This is the one that bites months later.
4. Tell employees to back up their authenticator apps. It costs them a minute now and a locked-out account later.

Pilot two or three devices first. Confirm the apps and profiles you expect actually arrive, then do the rest.

Reassign in Apple Business

1. Sign in to Apple Business
2. Go to Devices and select the iPhones and iPads to move
3. Click Assign Device Management and pick our MDM server as the destination
4. Set the migration deadline — between 1 and 90 days. Employees can postpone until it expires. Keep it inside 30 days if you deploy apps purchased in volume.

The deadline is not optional, and leaving it out fails silently. A device reassigned without one never receives the migration prompt, and nothing anywhere reports it: not Apple Business, not our side, not the device. Set the deadline in the same sitting as the reassignment.

What happens on iOS 26 and later

Do not unenrol the devices from the old MDM. Each one unenrols itself as part of the migration, and a device you released early has lost what makes this work.

1. The device gets an Enrollment Required notification showing your deadline
2. The employee can start it immediately or postpone
3. Reminders repeat daily, then hourly in the last 24 hours
4. At the deadline it goes ahead regardless: the device leaves the old MDM, enrols here, and restarts

The device is never erased and stays supervised, whether the employee chose to start or the deadline forced it.

Afterwards, clear the leftover device records out of the old MDM console. Nothing does it for you.

iOS 18 and earlier: there is no gentle path:

Apple's native migration does not exist before iOS 26. A device can only become supervised through Automated Device Enrolment or Apple Configurator, and both erase it. To keep supervision you erase the device and re-enrol it through zero touch.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Troubleshooting

• Nothing happened after reassigning a device. No deadline was set. The device never gets the prompt and no error is raised anywhere. Set the deadline.
• A device migrated and lost its Wi-Fi and restrictions. Those profiles belonged to the old MDM. They had to be recreated here beforehand.
• Apps bought in volume did not come across. The content token was not moved, or it is still active in the old MDM.
• The bypass codes are gone. The migration invalidated them. They can only be exported from the old MDM before it is decommissioned.
• The device is on iOS 18 and nothing is offered. Native migration starts at iOS 26. Update the device, or erase and re-enrol it.

FAQ

1. Does the employee lose their data?
   Not on iOS 26 or later. The device keeps everything and stays supervised.
    
2. Should we unenrol from the old MDM first?
   No. The device does it itself. Releasing it early breaks the migration.
    
3. Can the employee refuse?
   Only until the deadline. After that it proceeds on its own.
    
4. How long should the deadline be?
   Between 1 and 90 days, and within 30 if you deploy volume-purchased apps.
    
5. Does this work for Macs?
   No, Macs have their own procedure.