Apple @ Work: As DaaS and VDI interest surges, Apple’s next enterprise play might be a subscription desktop

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

The 2025 Parallels Cloud Survey recently went live, and buried in the data is a trend Apple should be paying attention to. According to the survey, 58% of enterprises are actively looking Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) options for their employees. Half of them plan to roll something out within the next six months. What’s driving this adoption? Companies want a secure, scalable way to give employees access to apps and data from anywhere. This is exactly the kind of enterprise shift that Apple could quietly build around.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.

Apple has the foundation

With Managed Apple Accounts, the foundation is already in place for Apple to launch a VDI/DaaS offering. Pair that with its robust device management APIs and a growing number of companies deploying Macs at scale, and the idea of a cloud-based Mac desktop experience starts to make sense if you look at where Apple’s revenue motivations are coming. For Apple, hardware margins are still incredible, but it’s increasingly more complex with the long lasting ability of Apple Silicon and the dreaded T word (tariffs).

Imagine this: A subscription-based macOS desktop that boots in a browser or on-demand virtual, tightly integrated with your MDM of choice, with secure identity controls baked in. Think of it as Apple’s answer to ChromeOS, but without needing dedicated hardware. It would work on macOS or iOS as well.

Why it matters from a security POV and revenue POV

Hybrid work isn’t going away, even with many return-to-office mandates. According to the Cloud survey, 85% of organizations still support some form of remote work, and security remains a top concern. VDI and DaaS are gaining traction not just because IT wants centralized control, but because teams need to protect data without locking down productivity. Internet speeds have largely gotten fast enough where using VDI doesn’t feel much different than a native desktop

Apple entering this space wouldn’t just be about expanding macOS. It would be about giving enterprises another reason to stay inside the Apple ecosystem, by driving subscription revenue. A cloud-hosted Mac would eliminate a lot of friction for seasonal workers, contract employees, and teams that need a consistent experience across devices. No more worrying about shipping hardware for short-term projects. No more complex provisioning workflows. Log in with a Managed Apple Account, and you’re up and running. It takes Zero Touch to a new level.

Apple could even build it so only macOS and iPadOS devices could log in and across it, which would give the iPad a sales boom in the enterprise as well.

Wrap up and final thoughts

I’ve had this vision of computing for two decades now. ChromeOS was close, but was still hardware dependent. From an IT POV, letting folks spin up a VDI interface is a quick way to onboard new employees, troubleshoot software issues, and manage overall security. My main concern here is that Apple should leave it open to all device management vendors and not tie it to Apple Business Essentials. It would be incredible to log into Apple Business Manager, click “add new macOS desktop”, have a virtual macOS interface show up in your device management system, and then provide all of the logins to employees. Apple could build a custom Remote Desktop app for the enterprise with tight controls, etc.

A hosted macOS environment could also give developers, designers, and data teams access to high-performance machines without the upfront cost. Apple Silicon scales well, and a virtualized Mac Studio or Mac mini in the cloud could appeal to teams that need power on demand. Combine that with Apple’s control over hardware and software, and you get a user experience that’s hard to replicate anywhere else. If they priced it right, it could drive considerable subscription revenue in the enterprise.

Download the survey to learn more.

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

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