Cannot remove MDM profile from iPhone after removal from Intune

Question

I have a corporate issued iPhone that's controlled by a MDM profile via Intune. The company agreed to remove the MDM profile to let me have the phone as a personal device. They said they removed the phone from Intune. However, the MDM profile is still there. There's no option to delete it. I've tried the following:

• Remove all managed apps and rebooted: MDM still there
• Erase iPhone and restore from backup: MDM still there
• Erase iPhone and use as new device: No MDM!

How can I remove MDM but still keep my existing data? The company hasn't done this before so they may have hit the wrong button. What should they do in Intune?

Answer 1

@Anon Account Thanks for your update. From the information you provided, the iPhone is an ADE enrollment device.

For ADE enrollment device, if the IT configure the setting "Locked enrollment" to "Yes" in the Apple enrollment profile, we can't remove MDM management profile manually in the iPhone.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/enrollment/device-enrollment-program-enroll-ios#create-an-apple-enrollment-profile

If we want to we want to completely remove an ADE device from management by Intune, it is needed to unsigned the device in Apple Business Manager.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/remote-actions/devices-wipe#retire-an-apple-ade-device-from-intune

Hope it will help.

Answer 2

@Anon Account Thanks for posting in our Q&A. From your description, did you mean that the iPhone is removed from intune, but the MDM management profile still exists in the device? If there is anything misunderstanding, please correct me.

To clarify this issue, we appreciate your help to collect some information:

1. Which method did you use to enroll the iPhone before?
2. From your description, I know that it is said that they removed the iPhone from Intune. Please make sure the iPhone doesn't show in the intune portal.
3. Could you please try to remove the MDM management profile in Settings > General > Device management > Mangement Profile? If the profile is removed, the device is not managed by intune.

For removing MDM, we usually use retire or wipe action. The wipe action restores a device to its factory default settings and it doesn't keep data. The retire action removes managed app data, settings, and email profiles that were assigned by using Intune, but it will leave the user's personal data on the device.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/remote-actions/devices-wipe

If there is anything update, feel free to let us know.

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Answer 3

In the Settings of your iPhone, you can check whether your device is still restricted to the MDM. Erasing all data and content on your device can delete the MDM profile when there is no option to remove MDM profile. If you choose the Restore from iCloud option on the device setup screen, the MDM profile will come back to your device. If you don't want to lose any data on your device, you can use an MDM removal.