Erasing MDM-linked MacBook doesn't remove former Apple ID

I'm a system administrator and I'm in charge of our MDM system.


When I use the Erase command from the MDM server, our MacBooks seem to be fully reset but the Apple ID of the old user stays on there. When:


  • the new user turns on the laptop, and;
  • they skip creating their own Apple ID during Setup Assistant


they see this screen:


Where the Apple ID is the ID of the old user. We don't use managed Apple IDs.


The old user still sees the laptop in their account and can Lock or Erase the laptop from Find My.


Fully erasing the storage through Recovery and re-installing macOS has no effect - the new user still gets this screen, so I'm guessing it's an Apple server-based issue rather than something stored on the local machine.


I'm struggling to figure this one out so if anyone has any ideas I'd be really appreciative!


Posted on Mar 23, 2023 5:49 AM

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Mar 27, 2023 12:15 AM in response to ASTRO24

That makes sense. I'm just wondering why the Erase command from the MDM system isn't automatically removing the Activation Lock and if I've missed a configuration setting somewhere.


I thought that Erase would 'factory reset' the device but if it doesn't remove Activation Lock from a corporate device that isn't the case, which is... a bit annoying.

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Mar 24, 2023 12:54 PM in response to RightlyCynical

Hi RightlyCynical,


Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities.


Because the old user's Apple ID is still visible on the computer, Activation Lock is enabled. The old user would need to remove the device from iCloud or the company could submit an Activation Lock request to Apple to remove the old Apple ID.


How to remove Activation Lock - Apple Support



Regards.


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Erasing MDM-linked MacBook doesn't remove former Apple ID

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