Test Updates All Year Long with AppleSeed for IT

When building a great Apple deployment for your school, there’s one thing you should always move to the top of the to-do list: enrolling your organization in AppleSeed for IT and building a strong system for testing new operating system releases and revisions before they become available to the general public.

What is AppleSeed for IT?

AppleSeed for IT is Apple’s official pre-release software testing program for IT professionals. It provides early access to developer beta versions of all Apple operating systems without the need for a paid developer account. It allows schools and districts to test upcoming releases ahead of general availability. The goal is simple, but critical: to help organizations validate their workflows, apps, and infrastructure in advance, so there are no surprises when the update rolls out to your teachers, staff, and students.

An easier way to test

Starting with macOS 14.5, iOS 17.5, and iPadOS 17.5, Apple introduced a new way to enroll devices into beta programs via your mobile device management (MDM) solutions during automated device enrollment. Now, IT admins can require a newly enrolled device to install a specific beta build before completing Setup Assistant, enabling a fully managed, large-scale testing environment.

This is a significant leap forward in managing betas, especially for organizations using Apple School Manager. Once your organization has accepted the latest Apple Beta Software Program Agreement and enrolled in AppleSeed for IT, your MDM can call Apple’s beta enrollment endpoint and retrieve unique tokens tied to eligible beta programs. These tokens are then used to direct devices into the correct AppleSeed track during enrollment.

Test now, avoid disruption later

While Apple device management offers strong controls for delaying the deployment of operating system updates, moving to the latest version quickly is always recommended in order to stay current with both security enhancements and the exciting new features your staff eagerly anticipate. In addition, waiting until rollout to discover that a mission-critical app or workflow needs its own update to work on the latest release can cause headaches for educators and support teams alike. AppleSeed for IT helps you get ahead of these issues by validating configurations, app compatibility, and network policies in a controlled, low-risk environment.

By testing continuously:

• You reduce downtime during back-to-school deployments
• You gain confidence in your apps, MDM profiles, and network configurations
• You can provide feedback directly to Apple engineers while changes can still be made

How to get started

1. If you haven’t already, enroll your organization in AppleSeed for IT by signing in with your Apple School Manager administrator account.
2. Accept the Beta Software Program Agreement in Apple School Manager.
3. Work with your device management vendor to ensure support for the new beta enrollment endpoint.
4. Begin enrolling test devices using beta tokens returned from the new API.
5. Start validating your key workflows, including everything from app deployment to classroom management, to assessment tools.

You can learn more in our Deployment and Management Tutorials. As always, reach out to your Apple sales team or AppleCare with questions. Happy testing!