Apple officially discontinued macOS Server on April 21, a product that has been around in one form or another since 1999.
While Apple’s Open Directory and Profile Manager have managed to hang around in the product offering, also known as Mac OS X Server and OS X Server, the computing giant has diluted its potential since 2018.
As Apple itself pointed out, “The most popular server features – Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server are bundled with every installation of macOS High Sierra and later, so even more customers have access to these essential services at no additional cost.”
Although few now see any real continued appeal for mobile device management or Apple’s MDM service, and Profile Manager will soon be discontinued, the company says customers can still get their fix from an edition of enduring application.
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Live like an app
Indeed, it points out that “existing macOS Server customers can continue to download and use the app with macOS Monterey.” However, in the future, it seems likely that the next edition of macOS will see support for the utility disappear altogether.
Mac IT staff will therefore be well advised to start looking for an alternative if they haven’t already. The news is hardly a revelation, with Apple abandoning any serious interest in the server world after its Xserve hardware servers disappeared in 2010.
A Mac Mini armed with macOS Server made amends to some degree, but lacked the muscle of the original server setup. However, over time, Apple has gradually integrated many features into macOS, which makes a dedicated server application almost redundant.
However, anyone who wants to hold on to the allure of macOS Server can still download it as an app, which will continue to work quite well on the latest version of macOS Monterey.
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