Microsoft Intune and Apple platform updates: What to expect after WWDC 2026
By Benjamin Flamm | Product Manager, Iris Yuning Ye | Product Manager - Microsoft Intune Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the annual starting point for the next wave of Apple platform changes. For Microsoft Intune customers, WWDC is also the moment when IT teams begin planning how new operating system capabilities will affect Apple device management, security, app deployment, and user readiness ahead of the fall OS releases. We’ve spent time watching and re-watching the sessions, sifting through new documentation with a magnifying glass, and philosophizing over the impact of what’s new this year. Just like every year, we’ll still have our day zero blog officially announcing what Intune supports for the new OS versions; however, this year we’ve heard your feedback that you’d like to know where Intune is prioritizing investments ahead of time so that you can prepare with confidence. What’s new in managing Apple devices Our team is absolutely thrilled by the latest WWDC announcements and what they mean for organizations using Intune to manage Apple devices at scale. Apple is executing their promise of a declarative future, and we’re excited to enable our customers to leverage the benefits of declarative device management (DDM) like efficient configurations and real time status reporting. Most importantly, Apple continues to provide new customer-delighting functionality that previously didn’t exist in the legacy protocol. Data-driven settings The Intune settings catalog is our data-driven experience that automatically generates UI based on a schema. Basically, Intune adds new settings very quickly. Our goal is to always provide new settings like restrictions and intelligence controls as fast as possible, but in a way that’s enterprise ready. Having to manually create policies in third party tools just to upload them into the Intune admin center is a thing of the past. That said, these are the configurations and settings announced at WWDC 2026 that will be available very soon in the settings catalog for testing on the OS 27 betas. Allow and deny binaries on macOS One of the biggest announcements for device management this year is the new App settings configuration which includes declarative binary management for Mac. Until now, admins have relied on third party tooling and scripting for controlling unwanted apps on macOS, which is a clunky and time-consuming process. This new configuration also brings privacy permission management to DDM, reducing the number of prompts that users see while ensuring that apps have the permissions they need. Content caching Content caching has been supported in mobile device management (MDM) and our settings catalog for years, but it’s becoming much more powerful as it moves to DDM in macOS 27. New status items provide richer information about the health, disk space, and usage of content cache services without requiring a separate monitoring agent. This will be especially useful for everyone who wants to significantly reduce network traffic due to large deployments such as multi-gigabyte app installations and OS updates. Platform Single Sign-on Platform Single Sign-on (Platform SSO) picked up a major set of upgrades this year as part of its transition to DDM: the option to require Touch ID as a built-in second factor for logging in and unlocking FileVault. Additionally, new web-based authentication that opens the door to customizable push notifications, one-time codes, and QR-code sign-in for shared-device environments. New skip keys for Automated Device Enrollment Our settings story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning skip keys, and we have so much to mention this year! You may have seen the news that we recently updated our Apple enrollment policies, but what you may have missed is that these use the same infrastructure as our settings catalog. Starting this year, you should now expect to see skip keys release as fast as the Apple settings catalog. Settings, settings, and more settings Everything we’ve talked about so far is only the tip of the iceberg for settings and what’s coming, so here’s the complete list of what you should expect to see in Intune this summer: App Settings Allow/deny macOS binaries App privacy Content caching DNS Settings DNS Proxy Extensible SSO Safari privacy Web Content Filter Apple Intelligence (Calendar) Device restrictions Skip keys Network configurations are now in DDM This is the announcement that we’ve been waiting for ever since Apple first showed us the power of DDM! While there isn’t Wi-Fi support yet, we’re thrilled to see this first step into DDM-based network configurations. The on-device user experience and admin configuration experience will see significant improvements in comparison to today’s profile model, especially when managing policies that depend on certificates for authentication. Our team is evaluating the new network configurations for our roadmap as we build support for these critical workloads in a declarative world. Fleet monitoring and MDM status The more device information that Apple moves to DDM, the faster Intune will become. The 15-minute check-in will soon be obsolete as MDM can solely rely on the device to detect drift or issues. This year, Apple has continued to add more device information to the DDM status channel, allowing admins to get a richer picture of the health of their device fleet. Device health reports that highlight whether a specific hardware component is operating normally, or experiencing an issue, will provide useful insights to organizations when planning their next device refresh cycle or monitoring for device issues before they affect productivity. Apple also added new status reports that show MDM-specific information for devices, such as if they’re enabled for return to service or shared iPad, and APNS-related information for MDMs to better stay in sync with devices. macOS package uninstall and the Managed App framework Over the past few years, Apple has been adding new features that are shifting traditional agent-based management to the DDM stack. The declarative package (.pkg) configuration introduced last year lets MDM send complex macOS packages and configurations without the constraints of the legacy install command. This year, they rounded out the story by adding package uninstall to remove data and files that were installed by a declarative package configuration as well as extending the Managed App framework to macOS. Just like with the new network configurations, our team is investigating what this means for Intune Mac management and re-evaluating our macOS roadmap. Streamlined log collection with AppleCare Apple introduced a new command to remotely trigger enhanced log collection which seems simple, but it has a lot packed into it. The old way involved lots of downloading and waiting and uploading and more waiting. With this latest announcement, Apple has streamlined this whole process by allowing MDMs to send a command to enable the device for logging with the correct logging state configured. The cherry on top is this new process will tell the device to directly upload its sysdiagnose to AppleCare without requiring physical access to the device or manual interaction from the device owner. It also wouldn’t be a new feature without DDM status, and devices will report their enhanced logging status every step of the way. This will reduce a lot of the friction, idle time, and “what’s actually happening?” that’s associated with getting a sysdiagnose file needed for engineering investigations. This new feature benefits IT teams, AppleCare, MDMs, and everyone in between, and our team is prioritizing this new workflow for the fall. Return to service (RTS) gets better and better Apple has continued to iterate on the return to service workflow since its introduction in 2023. Its first iterations showed how RTS can be useful for troubleshooting, quickly returning devices back to a fresh service state while also preserving apps across resets. This year, Apple announced 2 major improvements: the ability to trigger RTS directly from the device and the ability to configure an inactivity timeout. This makes RTS a must-have for shared device scenarios where you need to securely and quickly minimize downtime between user sessions. MDM software updates are no more DDM is now the only way to manage software updates, with the legacy MDM workload being fully removed from support in OS 27. We will be removing the legacy software update policies and settings from our UI in the coming months. Intune has supported DDM updates since they were first released in 2023, and we also have gold standard software update reports where you can see rich and fast OS update status every step of the way. More information is available on our Tech Community blog. How IT teams can prepare now Identify the Apple device populations that are most business-critical, including supervised iOS and iPadOS devices, shared devices, and managed Macs. Review enrollment, compliance, app deployment, and software update workflows that may be affected by major OS upgrades. Plan a beta validation ring with representative users, devices, apps, and different network conditions. Document known business-critical apps and confirm vendor readiness timelines for the fall OS releases. Test the available beta settings in the settings catalog and share your feedback with our team and Apple via Feedback Assistant. Watch for Intune documentation, Message center posts, and release notes as support details become available. Looking ahead Apple’s fall OS releases are an important planning milestone for every organization managing Apple devices, and Intune’s priority is to help our customers confidently adopt new capabilities securely and at scale. Keep an eye out for our yearly day zero blog to learn more about Intune updates and new feature support as we get closer to the OS 27 release this fall – happy beta testing! If you have any questions, leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam. Join our community! Discuss real-world scenarios, get expert guidance, connect with peers, and influence the future of Microsoft Security products. Learn more at aka.ms/JoinIntuneCommunity.Speed where it matters: How Microsoft Intune helps IT prioritize time-sensitive actions
By: Albert Cabello Serrano | Principal Product Manager - Microsoft Intune A closer look at how Intune delivers updates to devices and the investments we’re making to help important changes move faster and more predictably. A common concern we hear from IT admins is, “How quickly will this change actually reach my device?” In many cases, the answer is much faster than expected. Today, 90% of policy updates, app deployments, and device actions in Intune are completed in under an hour. So where does the idea of “8-hour latency” come from? That number reflects a routine maintenance check-in used when devices are idle - not how Intune processes meaningful changes. Intune uses notification-based, priority-driven processing so that high-impact actions, like security policy changes or remediation steps, are handled promptly and reliably as possible. In this context, latency isn’t about making every action instant - it’s about providing predictable, prioritized delivery at global scale. The sections below break down how Intune prioritizes different types of updates and recent investments that are helping time-sensitive changes complete more consistently. How Intune delivers changes to devices Cloud-based device management is designed for real-world conditions; devices are not always online, fully charged, or on stable networks. Intune uses an eventual consistency model so devices can continue to be productive while converging to the desired state over time, without management actions unnecessarily disrupting users or workflows. Because devices operate in different conditions, not all device activity is handled the same way. To manage change reliably at scale, Intune uses different types of device check-ins depending on what needs to happen. Types of device check-ins in Intune Device check-ins generally fall into several categories, each triggered by a different type of action: Single‑device check‑ins: Occurs when an admin or user initiates an action on a specific device, such as starting a device action or installing an app from the Intune Company Portal. Change‑based check‑ins: Push‑triggered check‑ins used to deliver meaningful changes to devices as soon as possible. Client‑initiated check‑ins: Background activity that helps keep devices healthy, such as when a user signs in to a device or when malware status changes. Maintenance check-ins: Scheduled syncs that occur at predetermined intervals and can be client or service-initiated, depending on the platform. These typically occur approximately every 8 hours. Regardless of what triggers a check-in, any pending changes will be applied to the device when it occurs. What happens when an admin makes a change When an admin makes a change in Intune, such as updating a device compliance policy, deploying an app, or setting a configuration, Intune identifies the devices impacted by that change and initiates a change‑based check‑in for affected devices. For online devices, Intune sends a push notification prompting the device to establish a management session with the service, apply the change, and report enforcement status back to Intune. If a device is offline or unreachable, the change is applied when the device next checks in through available mechanisms. Four investments that help critical updates move forward faster The following product changes focus on reducing device‑change latency by shortening the time between an admin action in Intune and enforcement on the device, especially during peak or constrained conditions. 1. Check-in prioritization focused on what matters most Not all device activity carries the same urgency. Routine background check-ins can compete for service resources with devices that have important pending changes, such as compliance updates, remediation actions, or administrator-initiated configuration changes. Intune evaluates the potential impact of delaying a device check-in on security posture, compliance state or user productivity, and dynamically prioritizes processing accordingly. This real-time prioritization model ensures that high-impact actions move forward without being delayed by lower‑impact background activity. Prioritization adapts as conditions change, helping important updates reach devices more quickly and predictably without being delayed by lower-impact background activity. 2. Built-in resilience when multiple changes occur in quick succession Change activity often happens in bursts, with several related updates occurring in rapid succession. These periods of activity may be driven by operational needs or background processes, and can involve adjusting assignments, updating multiple policies, or rolling out configuration changes across the same set of devices. Intune dynamically coordinates notifications, so that each change requiring action triggers a corresponding device notification, even during high-activity periods. This helps improve consistency when applying multiple updates and reduces delays across consecutive changes on devices. Over the next several months, these improvements will extend to additional payloads delivered through the Intune Management Extension (IME), including scripts, Win32 apps, and custom compliance across both Windows and macOS platforms. 3. More timely notifications on Windows Intune notifies devices to check-in when changes require action. If the device is offline, on an unstable network, or low on battery, notifications may be delayed. This can cause missed check-ins or delayed actions. When notification services are delayed, blocked, or unavailable, devices may fall back to scheduled maintenance check‑ins to apply changes. For timely delivery, required notification service endpoints need to remain accessible so devices can receive management signals when updates occur. On Windows devices, Intune complements the Windows Notification Service (WNS) with the same notification protocol that powers Microsoft Teams via the Intune Management Extension. This helps increase the likelihood that devices receive management notifications when they’re online and reachable, improving visibility into whether policy updates or device actions have reached their destination. For more information, see the network endpoints for Intune documentation. 4. Optimized maintenance check-ins for iOS devices Background check-ins are still important to keep devices healthy when nothing else is going on. Unlike Windows devices, iOS devices don’t have client scheduled check‑ins and depend on service‑initiated maintenance check‑ins to ensure device health and compliance. During peak usage periods, these maintenance check‑ins can account for a significant portion of overall traffic, which can compete with devices that require immediate updates. Intune considers device activity in the scheduling of maintenance check‑ins during peak activity, making room for higher‑impact updates, while continuing to ensure devices check in regularly. This helps manage traffic and improves responsiveness when applying policies or remediation actions. What this means for you For IT admins: No additional configuration or workflow changes are required to benefit from Intune’s built-in notification system. When bidirectional communication with notification service endpoints is open, devices can receive and act on updates as they become available. For security teams: Faster delivery of device changes helps shorten the time between a policy update, a tightened Conditional Access rule, an updated compliance baseline, and a remediation action. For Zero Trust frameworks, where posture signals drive access decisions, this helps narrow the window during which a device could be out of compliance or vulnerable. Together, these improvements reflect how Intune is evolving into a more intelligent, priority-aware system. Rather than making every action instant, the focus is on prioritizing high-impact updates so they are delivered without unnecessary delays. This approach is expanding across a number of scenarios to provide a more consistent and predictable experience, helping reduce delays for key updates. Resources to learn more For another perspective on this topic, read an MVP’s take on demystifying the “8-hour” timing myth in this LinkedIn post. You can also watch the recent Tech Takeoff about this same topic to learn more about these improvements. Also, in the April edition of the What's New in Intune blog, we introduced a new segment called Myth vs. Reality. This post is part of that series. To stay current on new capabilities and updates as they ship, follow the What's New in Microsoft Intune blog. What myth should we debunk next? Leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam or @MSIntune.Microsoft Security Copilot in Intune deep dive – Part 1: Features available in public preview
By: Zineb Takafi - Product Manager & Lavanya Lakshman - Principal Product Manager | Microsoft Intune Microsoft Intune is a widely used cloud-based endpoint management solution that simplifies the management and security of devices, apps, and data across your organization. Intune is poised to set a new standard for IT productivity and protection with generative AI capabilities powered by Microsoft Security Copilot, an AI-driven security solution designed to empower security and IT professionals. Copilot integrates seamlessly into Intune, transforming critical workflows around policy management, troubleshooting, and security threat resolution. With key integrations in Intune Suite for Endpoint Privilege Management and Device Query, Copilot enhances endpoint security by offering AI-driven insights and potential app elevation risk. These capabilities are designed to reduce manual intervention and accelerate response times. In this blog, we’ll dive into our current capabilities in preview. This is the first blog of our new monthly Copilot in Intune blog series. Each post will spotlight different Copilot capabilities within Intune through demos, practical tips, and real-world scenarios. By following along, you’ll discover our latest innovations with AI in Intune and how to harness the power of Copilot to stay ahead of emerging threats and streamline your management processes. Let’s get started on this journey together and unlock the full potential of Security Copilot in Intune today! Simplify device policy management Security Copilot in Intune helps IT admins quickly review and manage device policies. By selecting the "Summarize with Copilot" button, admins get a clear summary of policies and settings. Copilot’s "Describe the impact" feature helps understand how policies affect users and security. Admins can also investigate specific settings, check for conflicts across policies, and ensure everything aligns with organizational needs—all without manual research. Copilot streamlines policy management, saving time and enhancing security. Effortlessly troubleshoot device issues Copilot in Intune helps IT admins quickly troubleshoot device issues. By navigating to Devices and selecting the faulty device, admins can select “Explore with Copilot” and use the “Summarize this device” prompt to view key details like hardware info, group memberships, compliance state, and reasons for non-compliance. Admins can then compare the faulty device with a healthy one by having Copilot highlight differences in configuration profiles, compliance policies, app configuration policies, discovered apps, managed apps, and hardware. This powerful integration streamlines issue identification, making troubleshooting faster and more efficient. AI-powered Copilot integrations with Intune Suite With Advanced analytics and Endpoint Privilege Management, part of the Intune Suite available as an add-on, customers can take advantage of Copilot integrations to further streamline endpoint management. These AI-powered integrations streamline app elevation requests and complex KQL query creation in device query to get insights on your devices. Identify app risks before approving app privileges Security Copilot in Intune enhances Endpoint Privilege Management by helping IT admins assess the risk of app elevation requests. When users request to elevate unfamiliar apps, admins typically have to research the app’s reputation and potential risks manually. Copilot simplifies this by automatically analyzing the app’s security status. When a user requests elevation for an app, admins can select “Analyze with Copilot” in the Intune admin center. Copilot sends the app’s hash to Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence, providing critical insights. Copilot flags the app for suspicious indicators tied to a known malware campaign. Use natural language to get real-time device data The integration of Security Copilot with single device query in Intune offers IT admins an easier, more efficient way to monitor and manage devices. With this capability, admins can quickly translate natural language requests into Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries and get real time device data, eliminating the need for in-depth KQL knowledge. For instance, if an admin wants to identify the top 10 processes consuming the most memory on a device, Copilot can automatically convert this request into a precise KQL query. This integration streamlines the process of gathering real-time insights, enabling admins to troubleshoot, optimize, and secure devices more effectively and with greater ease. Use natural language to analyze and query multiple devices With Security Copilot in Intune, IT admins can easily create Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries for multi-device queries, gaining comprehensive insights into their entire device fleet. By navigating to Devices and selecting “Device query” in the Intune admin center, admins can quickly filter devices based on specific criteria. For example, an admin could request a list of devices with at least 8 GB of memory, over 50 GB of storage, and one encrypted volume. Security Copilot translates this natural language request into an accurate KQL query, eliminating the need for advanced KQL knowledge and streamlining the process of managing and securing devices across the organization. What’s next Our AI journey has only just begun, and with each step, we learn and evolve, driven by our commitment to simplifying IT workflows and reducing complexity for customers. We invite you to explore the robust integrations available within Intune where AI assistance transforms everyday tasks like policy management, troubleshooting, device queries, and elevation request evaluation into a more efficient, streamlined process with Copilot. Take advantage of these features today to optimize your security posture and stay ahead of emerging challenges. To get started or learn more about our enhancements visit Copilot in Intune. We look forward to providing further updates in the Copilot in Intune blog series. If you have any questions or want to share how you’re using Copilot in Intune, leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam or @MSIntune. You can also connect with us on LinkedIn.
