I am setting up iPads for students at our school using the directors own phone number on all. About 65 iPads. We don’t want to use the students own numbers.
Can I Use the same phone number on multiple Apple ID’s?
iPhone 13, iOS 17
Precisely how you are using this telephone number is important - as this will influence how many devices can be associated with a specific telephone number. That said, given the number of devices that you are attempting to individually configure, it is perhaps unsurprising that you are encountering a hard-limit.
Given the large estate that you are attempting to manage, you would be nest advised to adopt a completely different approach - and register and manage the estate using Apple School Manager plus an MDM platform of your choice.
Apple School Manager User Guide - Apple Support
I believe that the maximum number of iOS devices you can associate with a single account is still 10 and there's no way around that limit. But as LotusPilot indicated, that's really not a good way to set up and manage multiple devices. Apple School Manager or one of the third-party managers such as the one from Jamf is definitely a better solution. Apple School Manager is free; third-party managers generally have a cost involved but may offer desirable additional capabilities.
Regards.
Apple School Manager is free and is hosted by Apple, so there's no server you need to run yourself. Other MDMs either offer or may require you to host your own server, and most require purchase or a subscription I'd suggest you first look into Apple School Manager and see if it would meet your needs. If all you need to manage is iPads, it's probable that it will do the job for you.
I’ve already set up some iPads, but after a certain amount of iPads I get a message on the next one that the number has already reached its maximum. So I am trying to find out if there is a way around this limitation to use the same number.
Thank you so much on the tip. Is the MDM a server hosted software? Not really an SA guru on my part. But do have some IT knowledge.
That and do I have to run my own MDM or is this a service I can get online for free or purchased?
Great! I thought I needed both. We have a small school and all the director needs is to restrict the students from creating havoc. Mostly from changing pins to access the iPad or making purchases over the App Store.
thank you kindly.
It's web based so you just need a compatible web browser. See the "Requirements for Apple School Manager" section of the Apple School Manager User Guide. I'd suggest reading the entire Guide before making a decision, so you're fully aware of what the system can do, what it needs, and what its limitations are.
Regards.
one more thing I forgot to ask, on which platform would i install Apple School Manager?
can I install on any PC with Internet access to manage the iPads? Thanks again.
From the user guide to which a link was provided:
Apple School Manager is a simple, web-based portal for IT administrators.
I.e., use a web browser.
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Welcome back Varjak Paw!
Excellent. Appreciate the help and advice.
Cheers.
Using same phone number on multiple Apple ID
