Integrate Apple devices with Microsoft Exchange
You can integrate iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro devices with Microsoft Exchange, allowing organisations to quickly and automatically configure users’ devices to take advantage of Exchange features. Before you configure your mobile device management (MDM) solution to add Exchange payloads to a configuration profile, check the version of Exchange that Apple supports.
Exchange requirements
iOS, iPadOS and visionOS 1.1 support the following versions of Microsoft Exchange:
Exchange Online (EAS 16.1)
Exchange Online (EAS 16)
Exchange Online (EAS 14.1)
Exchange Server 2019
Exchange Server 2016
Mail and Calendar in macOS support the following versions of Microsoft Exchange:
Exchange Online
Exchange Server 2019
Exchange Server 2016
Modern Authentication support for Exchange accounts
iOS 11, iPadOS 13.1, macOS 10.14 and visionOS 1.1, or later, support Microsoft modern authentication workflows of Exchange micro tenants. OAuth can be used for Office 365 accounts with Modern Authentication enabled. In iOS 12, iPadOS 13.1 and macOS 10.14, or later, configuration can also be performed manually or with a configuration profile.
In iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and visionOS 1.1, or later, Exchange accounts configured for Microsoft cloud-based services (such as Office365 or outlook.com) are automatically upgraded to use Microsoft’s OAuth 2.0 authentication service.
For more information, see the two Microsoft Support articles Using Office 365 modern authentication with Office clients and Enable or disable modern authentication in Exchange Online.
Calendar
Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) — for iOS, iPadOS and visionOS 1.1 — and Exchange Web Services (EWS) — for macOS — support the following features of Exchange:
Wirelessly creating and accepting calendar invitations
Viewing an invitee’s calendar free/busy information
Creating private calendar events
Configuring custom repeating events
Showing the week numbers (which week of the 52 weeks in a year)
Receiving calendar updates
Keeping tasks in the Reminders app up to date
Calendar attachments and structured location support
Calendar delegation (macOS)
Calendar on an iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro allow Exchange (2010 or later) event invitations to be forwarded, and allow an event recipient to suggest different times and locations. Calendar also supports smart locations and suggestions to the user based on their location and the event participants.
Microsoft Exchange Autodiscover service
iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS 1.1 support the Autodiscover service of Exchange. When a user manually configures an Apple device, Autodiscover uses the user’s email address and password to determine the correct Exchange Server information. For more information, see Autodiscover service in Exchange Server on the Microsoft documentation website.
Remote wipe
You can remotely wipe the contents of an iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro using features provided by Exchange. All user data is removed and the device is restored to its original factory settings. It’s an ideal way to be sure all personal information is removed from a device before giving it to somebody else or returning it for service.
Rather than wipe an entire device, specific accounts and their Exchange data can be deleted. This can be done from Exchange for both active and inactive accounts.
For more information, see Erase Apple devices.
Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Mail
Mail can search an Exchange account with specific predicates (dates, sender, subject) with improved results using EAS version 16.1.
Exchange draft folders have the ability to sync (with EAS 16 or Office 365 or later), and Mail filters search through smart mailboxes and flagged content. Push email is also supported.
Important: In iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and visionOS 1.1, or later, if an Microsoft Entra ID administrator hasn’t enabled Apple Internet Accounts (previously named iOS Accounts), the user is shown a message stating that administrator approval is required for configuration.
Direct Push for iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro
If a mobile or Wi-Fi data connection is available, Microsoft Exchange Server uses its Direct Push feature to automatically deliver email, tasks, contacts and calendar events to devices.
Exchange Online global address list for iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro
Apple devices retrieve contact information from your organisation’s Exchange Server’s global address list (GAL) when you search Contacts and for completing email addresses as they’re entered. This includes the certificate of the recipient for S/MIME if available in the GAL. GAL photos require Exchange Server 2010 SP 1 or later.
Out-of-office reply messages for iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro
Users can set automatic reply messages for when they’re unavailable, and select an end date for the replies.