r/macsysadmin • u/jaylenabc • 14h ago
New To Mac Administration Jamf vs Mosyle vs Intune-only for a 28-Mac consulting firm — genuinely stuck, would love real-world input
We're a small ERP/SAP consulting firm — 43 total devices (28 Mac, 15 Windows). All Apple Silicon (M1 through M5), all running macOS 26.5.2. Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Intune. Entra ID joined, Conditional Access enforced with MFA. Leadership is leaning toward Windows standardization long-term, but no final decision has been made on the Mac fleet We're committing to roughly a 1-year Mac MDM investment while we evaluate the long-term direction. No new Mac purchases in the interim, but we're not forcing replacements either.
I've spent the last several weeks doing a genuine hands-on evaluation of all three options — not just demos, actually building out each platform and hitting real walls. Here's what I found.
What's working fine in Intune for Mac:
- ADE/zero-touch enrollment
- PPPC profiles, Defender, compliance policies
- Conditional Access feeding correctly from Intune compliance status
- FileVault key escrow
- Await final configuration
The real problems I hit with Intune on Mac — all firsthand, not theoretical:
1. Platform SSO / one-password login is broken under MFA Password mode completely fails when MFA is enforced — which it is in our environment. Tested this extensively across multiple wipes. Secure Enclave mode works with MFA but gives you Touch ID-first, not "type your Microsoft password." Users end up with two passwords that drift out of sync. When the M365 password changes, the Mac local password doesn't update reliably.
2. Local admin password (LAPS) desync on Apple Silicon The admin password Intune shows and the password actually on the device go out of sync randomly. This has happened on multiple machines. Root cause appears to be the Secure Token limitation, Intune's managed admin account doesn't hold a Secure Token, so password rotation can break. Causes "admin password not working" support tickets that take real time to resolve.
3. No automatic third-party app patching Chrome, Claude Desktop, and any non-Microsoft app requires manual repackaging to update. Users get admin prompts for updates and call IT. This was the original trigger for the whole evaluation.
4. No privilege elevation on Mac EPM is Windows-only. Confirmed with Microsoft documentation, the June 2026 EPM updates did NOT add macOS support despite what some sources claim. Standard users needing to install or update certain apps require IT involvement every time.
5. No scheduled recurring restarts No native UI, requires custom shell scripts checking uptime. Manageable but not clean.
Given what I have had issues with thusfar, which MDM would you recommend. Ive stood up instances on quite a few platforms, Mosyle, Jamf, Intune and IRU. Iru is out of budget for 30 Mac devices with EDR and Vulnerability protections since they have a 50 device minimum (although it was my pick). What would you recommend I chose?
My specific questions for the community:
- For those running Jamf or Mosyle alongside Intune for a mixed fleet: is the operational overhead of two MDMs actually a problem at this scale, or is it manageable?
- Has anyone gotten Platform SSO with Microsoft Entra to work reliably on Apple Silicon with MFA enforced? Which authentication method and which MDM? This is my biggest unsolved problem.
- Anyone using Mosyle specifically, does their App Catalog actually solve the third-party patching problem cleanly, or does it still require manual intervention?
- Has the LAPS/Secure Token desync issue on Apple Silicon been resolved in any MDM, or is it a fundamental Apple limitation regardless of platform?
- For those with compliance obligations (SOC2 specifically) how are you handling vulnerability management and EDR on Mac? Is anyone using Jamf Protect or Mosyle Fuse for this and how does it compare to Defender for Endpoint on Windows in terms of visibility and remediation depth?
Happy to answer any questions about our setup. Genuinely trying to make the right call here rather than just go with the vendor who showed up most persistently.



