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I have an iMac that was in Apple School Manager. I meant to temporarily unassign it for troubleshooting purposes, but I think I must have released the device instead because now I am not able to add the serial number back into ASM. Apple Support told me that I'm basically out of luck and I can never add that computer back into our DEP ever again. They told me that it is essentially released forever.

I can't believe that even Apple cannot help me re-assign this device, even with proof of ownership. Has this happened to anyone else? And if so, were you ever able to re-assign the device in ASM somehow?

@rmonaghan Been there, done that -- true story!

You used to be able to call and provide proof of purchase to get a Mac added back in. It's not that it isn't possible, it's that Apple does not want to. There is not much you can do about it unless you can get the original store to return/resell the device, creating another transaction, that can then be done under your sell-to account.

Aha, here's the discussion I was looking for!

So yep, in the same boat here!

We released about 80 iMacs that had been replaced and were being sold off. However about 10 computers are being kept around as Hot-Swap and Service Desk machines.

So if it cannot be added to Apple School Manager and thus assigned to our MDM that way, what is the best way to get it into the same state as one of our classroom computers that has been enrolled via DEP?

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Try readding the device by its PO. I did this once. It wouldn't add by Serial #, so I used the PO and it worked fine.

excellent post

Is don't make any sense...

Agreed haha! We have an old iMac that needs to be added! on big sur

Hi All.

Hit this issue today with some iMacs and got around it by downloading the Apple Configurator App to an iPhone, and following this article - Add a new Mac using Apple Configurator for iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

A Bit late to the party I know, but all the best anyway.

Hi All.

Hit this issue today with some iMacs and got around it by downloading the Apple Configurator App to an iPhone, and following this article - Add a new Mac using Apple Configurator for iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

A Bit late to the party I know, but all the best anyway.


It worked, I released iPad from Apple School Manager accidentally and added it back with Apple configurator. It added it back and works like a charm!0

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