iOS 11.3 will allow companies to delay updates — up to 90 days — on supervised devices

Apple today released the first beta of iOS 11.3. Although the beta is available only to developers and those registered in the Apple beta program, they did release some some very interesting information.

Notably, the public document Configuration Profile Reference includes a new item, which has been hoped-for for many years by Apple administrators:

enforcedSoftwareUpdateDelay

Supervised only. This restriction allows the admin to set how many days a software update on the device will be delayed. With this restriction in place, the user will not see a software update until the specified number of days after the software update release date.

The max is 90 days and the default value is 30.

Availability: Available only in iOS 11.3 and later and macOS 10.13.4 and later.

This delay will give companies a window to test, certify, and update any existing apps.

We'll post more information as it becomes public.

Also note, GroundControl has had a similar iOS Update Delay feature, but that relied on a long and unpredictable signing window for non-current releases. Presumably Apple will be extending the IPSW signing window to a minimum of 90 days for any release. That's great news!