What’s required to purchase books in Apple School Manager?

The ability to purchase content, such as books and apps, within Apple School Manager is governed by a system of role-based permissions. The Administrator role has the highest level of privileges and can perform all tasks, including buying content licenses for the entire organization. While the Content Manager role is also specifically designed for this task, the Administrator role is a valid and sufficient requirement for purchasing books. The action is tied to the permissions of the role assigned to a user's Managed Apple ID, not the ID itself.

B. An Apple Developer account: This account is for creating and publishing applications on the App Store, not for purchasing content within an educational or enterprise management environment like Apple School Manager.
C. A Managed Apple ID: While an Administrator uses a Managed Apple ID to sign in, the ID itself does not grant purchasing rights. The specific role assigned to that ID determines the user's permissions.
D. User acceptance: This is a step that may occur on the end-user's device after a book license has been purchased by an administrator and assigned to them. It is not a prerequisite for the purchase itself.

1. Apple Inc.

Apple School Manager User Guide. "Intro to roles and privileges in Apple School Manager". This section details the capabilities of each role

explicitly stating that the Administrator "can also perform all the tasks of any other role

" which includes the content purchasing duties of a Content Manager.

2. Apple Inc.

Apple School Manager User Guide. "Buy apps and books in Apple School Manager". This section outlines the process for purchasing content

a task performed by users with appropriate administrative privileges (Administrator or Content Manager).

3. Stanford University IT Services

Apple Device Management: Overview. "Service Details" section. University documentation on their Apple management service describes how administrators use Apple School Manager for institutional purchasing of apps and books

reinforcing that this is an administrative function.