Enrolled iPhone won’t connect to Mac over USB after ABM enrollmentSolved

For ABM/ADE-enrolled iPhones, USB pairing can be controlled from two places:

1. iOS restriction policies applied after enrollment.
2. The ABM/ADE enrollment profile used during device setup.

If removing the iOS restriction policy did not help, check the enrollment profile assigned to the device. In particular, verify whether the option named “Allow iTunes pairing” is enabled.

This setting controls whether the supervised iPhone can pair with a Mac over USB for Finder/iTunes-style communication. If it was disabled in the enrollment profile at the time of enrollment, the device may not be able to establish the USB pairing even if no later restriction policy blocks it.

The device was enrolled through ABM, and the enrollment profile has “Allow iTunes pairing” unchecked. I thought that only affected iTunes, not general USB connection to a Mac. Can that be the reason?

Yes. In this context, “Allow iTunes pairing” applies to USB pairing with a Mac, including Finder/iTunes-style device communication. Because this option is part of the ABM/ADE enrollment profile, changing it later does not automatically update the setting on devices that are already enrolled.

To apply the corrected setting, you need to:

1. Enable “Allow iTunes pairing” in the ABM/ADE enrollment profile.
2. Wipe the affected iPhone.
3. Re-enroll the iPhone using the updated enrollment profile.

After re-enrollment with this option enabled, the iPhone should be able to pair with the Mac over USB, provided no separate iOS restriction policy blocks pairing.