Supervision is a specific mode for institutionally owned Apple devices that grants an organization enhanced management capabilities. This state can only be enabled through two official methods. The first is manually, using the Apple Configurator application on a Mac to prepare and apply a configuration profile that enables supervision. The second method is automatically over-the-air during the device's initial setup using Automated Device Enrollment (ADE), which is configured within Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. Both methods are the designated pathways to establish the supervision identity on a device.

A. An MDM solution: An MDM solution manages a supervised device, but supervision itself is a prerequisite for many advanced MDM payloads, not a result of MDM enrollment alone.

C. User acceptance: Supervision is an administrative function for organization-owned devices and is typically mandatory and non-optional, unlike user-initiated enrollment for personal devices.

D. A VPN configuration: A VPN is a network configuration that can be deployed to a device via MDM but is entirely unrelated to the process of enabling the supervised state.

1. Apple Platform Deployment Guide. "Intro to supervising Apple devices." Apple

Inc.

Nov 27

2023.

Section: "How devices can be supervised." This section explicitly states

"There are two ways to supervise devices: Use Apple Configurator (on iPhone

iPad

and Apple TV). Use Automated Device Enrollment (on iPhone

iPad

Mac

and Apple TV)." This directly confirms that Apple Configurator and ADE are the required methods.

2. Apple Business Manager User Guide. "Automated Device Enrollment and MDM." Apple

Inc.

Dec 12

2023.

Section: "How Automated Device Enrollment works." The documentation details that devices added to Apple Business Manager can be set to automatically enroll in MDM and become supervised during the initial Setup Assistant process

confirming ADE as a primary method for supervision.

3. MIT Information Systems & Technology. "Supervised iOS devices." Knowledge Base Article KB0013300.

Paragraph 2: This university resource clarifies the process: "Supervision can be enabled on a device in one of two ways: Using Apple's Device Enrollment Program (DEP) [now ADE] to purchase the device... Using the Apple Configurator utility to wipe the device and enable supervision mode." This corroborates the two distinct methods for enabling supervision.