Apple Discontinues macOS Server After 23 Years

Today, Apple announced the discontinuation of macOS Server, its operating system for server hardware. Starting today, April 21 it’s time to say bye to the operating system. The server which has lasted for the past 23 years was first introduced on March 16, 1999. For some time now, Apple has slowly been removing features, especially starting with version 5.71. In a support document spotted online, the company states it has reached the decision to finally shut down macOS for good.

macOS Server 5.12.2 will definitely be the last version of the app, and all services on the macOS Server have now been migrated to macOS. Popular capabilities the macOS Server is known for which comprises the Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server have now been bundled in macOS since macOS High Sierra, so there is no need for a standalone app any longer. The command-line tools to manage Xsan (Apple’s storage garage network/clustered file system) were included in macOS Big Sur. During the latter part of the macOS Server’s run, Apple incorporated many of its features into macOS, this was done as part of a phasing out strategy for the software.

All existing users of macOS Server can hereby continue to download and use the app with macOS Monterey. The remaining feature that administrators will have to replace with the end of the macOS Server is Profile Manager for mobile device management (MDM). In a support document, Apple has shared details on how to choose an MDM solution.