Mac identity management gets a boost, but IT still faces gaps

For decades, macOS has been admired for stability and security — traits inherited from the BSD Unix underpinnings of Apple’s operating systems. Yet these same foundations now create friction for IT leaders trying to marry Apple’s strong local authentication model with the cloud-based identity providers (IdPs) that support single sign-on (SSO) and other key features of modern enterprise computing.

“Platform SSO is Apple’s solution to bridge the gap between local desktop authentication and SSO for cloud apps,” said Weldon Dodd, a distinguished engineer at Iru (formerly Kandji), which sells identity and endpoint management software. Introduced in 2022, Platform SSO (PSSO) aims to simplify the login experience by allowing enterprise users to authenticate once on their Mac and then be automatically signed into corporate cloud apps and websites — a leap toward the kind of unified experience that Windows Hello and Azure AD users enjoy.

Until now, Macs were first set up with a local user account and then registered with PSSO, but “this year with macOS Tahoe 26, Platform SSO authentication will be available during Setup Assistant and even at the pre-boot FileVault unlock screen,” Dodd said. “These are really important changes that enable new zero-touch workflows for enterprise customers as they provision devices to their teammates.”

Those changes, announced at WWDC 2025, allow IT to configure devices so that when a user is setting up a new Mac, they first authenticate with the corporate identity provider, which enrolls them into device management and potentially their Managed Apple Account. Then a local account is created and the password synced with the IdP.

As Computerworld columnist Jonny Evans explained, “The result is that a user can receive a Mac, start it up, log in with their provisioned ID, and watch as the Mac is configured, device management put in place, and approved apps downloaded to their machine.”

But PSSO adoption has been uneven. “The biggest challenge we hear from IT teams is the limited identity-provider support for Platform SSO,” said Jason Dettbarn, founder and CTO of Addigy, an Apple Mobile Device Management (MDM) vendor. “Organizations want to take advantage of Apple’s native authentication, but their IdP either doesn’t support it yet or charges extra for the capability.”

Even when support exists, Dettbarn added, “it can conflict with existing security policies, forcing teams to choose between maintaining their standards or adopting Apple’s framework.”

That tension — between Apple’s elegant consumer-grade experience and enterprise-grade security standards — lies at the heart of the identity problem for many IT departments.

Bridging the local/cloud gap

At its core, PSSO lets macOS link a local user account with an organization’s cloud directory through an extension provided by the IdP. Once authenticated, the user gains seamless access to managed apps without re-entering credentials. In theory, this eliminates password fatigue and improves compliance by enforcing corporate policies at login.

In practice, integration depends on the maturity of each IdP’s implementation. “PSSO still relies on the IdP vendors to do their part to make the end-to-end solution work,” Dodd said. “Microsoft Entra ID and Okta have announced their support for the new PSSO extensions in Tahoe, but other vendors have been slow to take Apple up on implementation.”

That lag creates a patchwork reality: a small subset of organizations with the right combination of tools can achieve seamless login to both device and apps, while others juggle half-working connectors and frustrated users.

To bridge the gap, management-tool providers like Iru and Addigy offer their own layers of integration. Iru’s Passport feature, for instance, keeps local macOS and cloud passwords in sync, mitigating one of the most common help-desk issues — password resets.

“With the new improvements in PSSO, Apple has closed that gap significantly,” Dodd noted, “but we’ve still got work to do.”

Addigy’s approach, meanwhile, emphasizes flexibility. “We’re one of the few MDM providers that includes its login solution at no additional cost,” Dettbarn said. “That gives us the freedom to recommend whichever approach — native or third-party — delivers the most seamless and secure experience.”

Safer device sharing

Another Apple initiative introduced at WWDC 2025, Authenticated Guest Mode, aims to help organizations that rely on shared or temporary devices — common in retail, education, and healthcare. The feature allows users to sign into a managed Mac with their cloud IdP credentials, creating a temporary, secure session that vanishes at logout.

“Authenticated Guest Mode looks really useful for environments that need ephemeral accounts protected by cloud IdP credentials,” said Dodd. “We’re looking into it, but we have yet to see the full end-to-end workflow available from Apple.”

For IT administrators, ephemeral accounts could finally close a long-standing security hole. Today, shared devices often rely on generic local logins or complex scripts — both prone to misconfiguration — to enforce session isolation. Authenticated Guest Mode promises an auditable, cloud-linked process that reduces risk.

Still, questions remain about policy enforcement, network onboarding, and integration with MDM workflows. Until those are answered, most organizations will likely experiment in sandboxed environments before full deployment.

Managing Macs at enterprise scale

The Six Colors 2025 Apple in the Enterprise Report Card ranked “macOS identity management” as the second-lowest-scoring category among enterprise Apple device administrators. That result reflects both lingering technical gaps and the operational complexity of supporting Apple alongside Windows and sometimes ChromeOS.

It’s worth noting that the 2025 report card predates Apple’s WWDC25 announcements. We’ll know next April when the 2026 report card is released if the changes to PSSO and introduction of Authenticated Guest Mode improve IT administrators’ opinion of macOS identity management.

Dodd expects they will. “The ability to use cloud IdP credentials at setup will be a great addition to zero-touch enrollment flows,” he said. “And our customers will love that the same PSSO authentication is available at pre-boot so there will never be a disconnect between the password used to unlock disk encryption and sign in to the local account.”

Those kinds of improvements, though technical, have big implications for how enterprises deploy and secure Macs. Zero-touch enrollment — ordering a Mac that auto-registers with the corporate IdP the moment it’s powered on — is the holy grail of Apple fleet management. It reduces both administrative overhead and exposure from unprotected endpoints.

While Apple’s incremental advancements in macOS Tahoe bring optimism, they also raise the bar for ecosystem partners. Both Iru and Addigy plan to support the new PSSO and Authenticated Guest Mode capabilities, but they say full interoperability depends on Apple maintaining stable APIs and documentation — a perennial complaint among enterprise developers.

And even with new tools, few IT leaders expect overnight transformation. Dodd acknowledged that “macOS still relies on a username and password for authentication, so there can be an impedance mismatch with more modern, phishing-resistant, passwordless methods.” Once logged in, however, “the experience of using passkeys with macOS is quite good,” he said, adding that “every enterprise should be looking at passkeys to level up security for critical apps and resources.”

That sentiment echoes a broader industry movement toward adopting passkeys — passwordless sign-ins based on WebAuthn standards — supported by Apple, Google, and Microsoft alike. “Enterprise IT is eager to figure out how to adopt passkeys at scale and manage them in a way that realizes the benefits of increased security and phishing resistance, while still providing control for IT and ease of use for end users,” said Dodd. But he warned that scaling passkeys across thousands of users and devices requires new management models.

A major decision facing IT leaders today is whether to rely more on Apple’s native features or to double down on specialized third-party tooling. For both vendors interviewed, the answer lies somewhere in between.

The “buy-and-build” coexistence reflects enterprise reality. Companies rarely swap out proven identity stacks overnight; they evolve them incrementally, keeping a foot in both worlds until confidence in Apple’s native approach matures.

Looking ahead, Dodd envisions a model where the macOS account password behaves more like an iPhone PIN. “Once unlocked with the PIN or biometrics, making passkeys the center of further auth requests seems like the right direction,” he said. “But there are so many places where the Unix foundations of macOS require username and password that it might be some time before that future becomes realistic.”

Dodd and Dettbarn agreed that the next few years will be about coexistence: blending traditional password models with emerging passkey and biometric systems, and ensuring everything ties neatly into corporate IdPs.

Meanwhile, Apple is sending clear signals that it takes enterprise identity seriously. The company’s new Platform SSO and Authenticated Guest Mode initiatives, plus the steady march toward passkeys, suggest that Cupertino recognizes how critical identity has become to enterprise trust. Still, in classic Apple fashion, progress comes on Apple’s timeline, leaving IT teams to fill in the gaps.

Strategies for IT leaders

Until the dust settles, what can IT departments do to reduce identity headaches across large Mac deployments? Addigy’s Dettbarn offered these tips:

Establish robust testing pipelines. “For large Apple fleet deployments, we recommend establishing separate testing environments or policies to eliminate the risk of accidental production deployments,” he said.

Adopt staged deployments. “Start with a controlled rollout — first to test devices, then to your IT department, and finally deploy in staged groups to reduce risk,” Dettbarn advised.

Invest in user education. Communication is essential, he stressed. “End users need to know what to expect.”

Stay vendor-agnostic. As IdP support for PSSO matures, organizations should avoid locking into proprietary connectors. “IT should continuously evaluate current solutions to identify opportunities for improved security and better user experiences,” he said.

Monitor metrics. Addigy measures success “across both the admin and end-user experience,” Dettbarn said, citing ease of implementation, usability, reduced support tickets, stronger compliance, and faster onboarding as key indicators that identity solutions are working effectively.

Enterprises that follow these best practices can position themselves to take advantage of Apple’s identity enhancements as they arrive — without compromising stability in the meantime.