We might be going with Macs :(

[Alis_Klar]

AD binding is going to be deprecated in future the alternative is Azure iDp. Jamf connect will do this for you.

[mhigg]

I worked exclusively with Mac hardware in a windows server environment.

You will need an MDM and the best one out there by some margin in Jamf. Specifically the Pro version. https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-pro/

It really isn't too difficult to bind them to AD, drive mapping a little bit mor difficult but I would advise looking into Jamf Connect also https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-connect/

If you do go Jamf they have a fantastic onboarding process and training to go with it as part of their professional services.

If you need anything please feel free to message me

[PGridley]

Another Thumbs up for Jamf, last school I worked at we had a new Head and they wanted 1-2-1 iPads for Pupils and MacBooks for Teachers, the onboarding training was excellent, as was the support getting everything as we wanted it. Rolled out the devices easily and onboarded a suite of Music iMacs too.

Prior to this I wasn't impressed with Apple machines, and have to say Jamf is the best MDM I've seen by far.

Have since moved to all Apple school and it's a lot quicker to push changes that intune is.

[jmak]

I worked exclusively with Mac hardware in a windows server environment.

You will need an MDM and the best one out there by some margin in Jamf. Specifically the Pro version. https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-pro/

It really isn't too difficult to bind them to AD, drive mapping a little bit mor difficult but I would advise looking into Jamf Connect also https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-connect/

If you do go Jamf they have a fantastic onboarding process and training to go with it as part of their professional services.

If you need anything please feel free to message me

We have Jamf Pro - early on in the adoption process here, although I've previously used it elsewhere, but didn't set it up from scratch. I'd agree about the quality of the product and we've had great support. The only caution I'd mention is that we were told by the result that the initial training was chargeable and mandatory. Jamf confirmed that wasn't the case.

 

My query: if you have Jamf Pro, is Jamf Connect separate? And is it per device or per user?

[Brimstone]

We have Jamf Pro - early on in the adoption process here, although I've previously used it elsewhere, but didn't set it up from scratch. I'd agree about the quality of the product and we've had great support. The only caution I'd mention is that we were told by the result that the initial training was chargeable and mandatory. Jamf confirmed that wasn't the case.

 

My query: if you have Jamf Pro, is Jamf Connect separate? And is it per device or per user?

 

Yes Jamf Connect is a separate product and like Jamf Pro is per device per year, works with both Entra and Workspace as well as many other iDP providers.

[RobFuller]

Platform SSO ? https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep7bbb05313/web Edited March 24, 2024 by RobFuller

[Bankesy]

We use Macs in our Music department, I don't really know anything about them other than my predecessor using Munki to manage them.

 

I've been speaking to Alex Stout at Counterpoint regarding a refresh and he has been very helpful.

[Guest]

Although not madatory depending on experience and desires and the soluton you are having training does help. Most MSP's will make it manadtory if schools desire to manage them selfs from experience it was always worth while for them.

 

Yeah Jamf Connect is essentially a seperate product but can be integrated into Jamf Pro which works beautful!

[the_quick]

Hi All again

 

Sorry for digging up old topic. I have now moved away from my previous school and landed recently in British School abroad.

 

We use Macs here for both Music and Media Studies- managed in Jamf. Apart from this we use o365 and windows laptops, including 1:1 for students.

And now the teachers from Music and Media are asking to buy them Macbooks - what they want costs around 3k - they claim it is for them to be able to do their work - I can see the point, but again we do not give macs to students who do these courses.

 

Bit annoyed to be honest. I'm just concerned it will open can of worms.

[jmak]

I now regard Macs as an acceptable life choice - as per my replies earlier in this thread, they're not nearly the headache they once were, the hardware is good (apart from vulnerabilities in M2 and M3 chips) and at the bottom of the range the quality/performance/price equation is reasonable value in my opinion. Never cheap, but good quality hardware isn't.

 

The Apple tax on upgrades is offensive - most in our estate are base model MacBook Airs. Some users have MacBook Pros and their use justifies it, but I can't see £3k machines fitting that, especially with budget limitations in schools.

 

We bought one for our team, just to practice using Mac OS and managing it in Jamf. Maybe better value would be 2 x £2k Macs for the teachers and a MacBook Air for the IT team so that you're able to help them get better value from them. The extra money all goes on overpriced RAM and disk space. They're very efficient with memory and if you need that much storage, buy an external drive or use SharePoint/network share.

[Bankesy]

@supportman how do you find SharePoint plays with files for Sibelius, Logic or other music-specific apps?

 

I've been wondering if Cloud Drive Mapper is Mac compatible which would allow the music department to move to Teams\SharePoint but still access via a mapped drive potentially.

[Brimstone]

@supportman how do you find SharePoint plays with files for Sibelius, Logic or other music-specific apps?

 

I've been wondering if Cloud Drive Mapper is Mac compatible which would allow the music department to move to Teams\SharePoint but still access via a mapped drive potentially.

Certainly where Logic in concerned I doubt it is compatible, if you are looking for a Mac friendly network storage solution then I would strongly recommend Synology. I have supplied these extensively in large Mac based media and creative FE Colleges and they work very well.

[Bankesy]

@Brimstone I wasn't thinking about Cloud Drive Mapper being accessible via Logic, more if CDM runs on Mac and maps a drive to a location where Logic files exist would they not just open in Logic due to the extension type?

 

Could you elaborate on the Synology idea, please? I get that that's where the data would live but then how do you go about opening what's on there from the Macs? Wouldn't it still require a mapping?

 

Thanks

[Brimstone]

@Brimstone I wasn't thinking about Cloud Drive Mapper being accessible via Logic, more if CDM runs on Mac and maps a drive to a location where Logic files exist would they not just open in Logic due to the extension type?

 

Could you elaborate on the Synology idea, please? I get that that's where the data would live but then how do you go about opening what's on there from the Macs? Wouldn't it still require a mapping?

 

Thanks

Logic will not work on networked or cloud mapped external drives, whilst to can save work to them you have to work on the files locally.

[dhicks]

Logic will not work on networked or cloud mapped external drives, whilst to can save work to them you have to work on the files locally.

 

If it's any help, I use rclone a fair bit:

 

https://rclone.org/

 

You can sync a folder from your cloud storage, work locally, then sync back when done. You'd probably need to set up some scripts / shortcuts to run, possibly when a user logs in / out.

[Bankesy]

The next issue I've noticed with the new Mac I've ordered is that it doesn't have any standard USB ports, given that our Music department has a preference for USB mouse\keyboard and USB MIDI keyboard I can only assume I will need a bunch of adapters

[Norphy]

Depends on the Mac that you're buying. MacBooks and iMacs exclusively use USB-C, in which case you can use a USB-C to USB-A hub like this. The Mac Mini, the Mac Studio and Mac Pro all have at least two USB-A ports.

 

I mean, yeah, it's a bit of a nuisance that USB-A peripherals are still commonplace and that Apple are going USB-C only, but USB-C ports are hardly esoteric proprietary ports that Apple alone are using. It's not like they're FireWire or something.

[2097]

Logic will not work on networked or cloud mapped external drives, whilst to can save work to them you have to work on the files locally.

 

Obviously things have changed a lot .

 

Our Mac suite with Logic can save to mapped network drives ( internal non cloud ) .

 

But its pretty old ! and in need of an upgrade .

 

We still use Centrify !

[Bankesy]

I managed to get the one new Mac enrolled to Intune and bound to AD but I can't get 365 Apps for MacOS to install via Intune.

 

I set the policy and targeted the group that the device belongs to in AD, I don't get any errors...just nothing on the device or Intune.

[Brimstone]

The next issue I've noticed with the new Mac I've ordered is that it doesn't have any standard USB ports, given that our Music department has a preference for USB mouse\keyboard and USB MIDI keyboard I can only assume I will need a bunch of adapters

 

You've never seen a USB-C port...?

[DalekSec]

The next issue I've noticed with the new Mac I've ordered is that it doesn't have any standard USB ports, given that our Music department has a preference for USB mouse\keyboard and USB MIDI keyboard I can only assume I will need a bunch of adapters

 

I think its been this way for at least 4 years now (depends on model), It's easy/cheap for adapters i tend to stick to Anker never had one fail.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

I managed to get the one new Mac enrolled to Intune and bound to AD but I can't get 365 Apps for MacOS to install via Intune.

 

I set the policy and targeted the group that the device belongs to in AD, I don't get any errors...just nothing on the device or Intune.

Macs and Intune are not fun together, do yourself a favour and get Mosyle in before you realise you need it.

[Bankesy]

@Brimstone I'm not sure where I'm saying I've never seen a USB-C port, what I'm saying is the devices we connect to the Macs are standard USB at the moment so we will need some adapters. Apologies if there was any misunderstanding in the point I was making but I suppose if we consider USB-C to be the standard I can understand why my concern doesn't make much sense.

@DalekSec we once ordered some Anker adapters for our cashless catering tills and they did not work from day one, on the tills or any other device so maybe I was just unlucky there.

 

I got the Office Apps deployment working when I switched it to 'All Devices' rather than a targeted group, the issue was the group showing in Intune but not with the device in it even though the device is in the group in AD so not sure what's happening there.