Apple for Enterprise: A Few Key Facts

By Kaleigh Brousseau,
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Despite BlackBerry’s recent release of its Playbook, Apple is expected to continue its dominance of the tablet market, even for enterprise businesses. Apple’s Mac products (desktop and notebook) also continue to gain popularity in the office setting, and many businesses are replacing their desktop PCs and traditional laptops with iMacs and MacBook Pros. Firms are increasingly using technology, including Threat Management Gateways, to grant access to Microsoft Exchange via iPhones and iPads. iPad

I recently attended an Apple demonstration led by a senior Eze Castle Integration engineer. Here are a few interesting facts I learned:

Microsoft Office Suite for Mac is similar to Windows; however, you will see significant differences in Microsoft Excel due to coding variations.
Microsoft Outlook only comes with Microsoft Office 2011. Earlier versions will have Entourage as the primary email platform.
Student versions of Microsoft Office do not work on Exchange.
There are two different ways to access Windows on a Mac: via virtualization or through a dual boot.
Data is encrypted when using a Citrix Receiver on any platform, including a Mac.
Neither Apple Mail nor Entourage support PST files (Outlook does).

If the tablet is more your style and you’re curious to see how Apple’s iPad 2 and BlackBerry’s Playbook match up side-by-side, here’s your chance:


	Apple iPad 2	BlackBerry Playbook
Operating System	Apple iOS 4.3	QNX, BlackBerry Tablet OS with symmetric multiprocessing
Processor	1 GHz dual core Apple A5	1GHz dual core Texas instruments
RAM	512MB	1GB
Storage	16GB, 32GB or 64GB internal; no SD expansion slot	16GB, 32GB or 64GB internal
Display	9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS display; 1024x768, 132ppi	7-inch WSVGA, 1024x600
Battery	Lithium-ion polymer with 6930 mAh capacity	Lithium-ion 5400 mAh
Ports	30-pin Apple connector, 3.5mm headphone jack	Micro USB, Micro HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack
Weight	1.33 pounds (21.28 ounces/601 grams)	14.4 ounces/425 grams
Dimensions	9.50(h) x 7.31(w) x 0.34(d) inches	7.6(h) x 5.1(w) x 0.4(d) inches
Camera	Backside 720p video recording at 30fps; front-facing VGA	5MP rear-facing, 3MP front-facing
Sensors	Accelerometer, aGPS, digital compass, ambient light sensor, three-axis gyroscope	Accelerometer, GPS, digital compass, 6-axis gyroscope
Keyboard	Virtual QWERTY	Virtual QWERTY
Networks	CDMA or GSM; no LTE	LTE, WiMAX, and HSPA+ models later in 2011
Wireless	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Tethering	No	Only to a BlackBerry smartphone
Price	$499-729	$499-$699