What’s new for Apple IT managers?

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If you’ve walked into a conference room with a MacBook Air in the past five years, you know the struggle. You look at the cable, realize it doesn’t fit your laptop because it’s HDMI, hunt for a USB-C dongle, find one that’s broken or can’t shake properly, and finally join a Zoom call on your laptop screen. Owl Labs has been a staple in small conference rooms for a while with their 360-degree cameras. I have really seen them take off during the COVID and remote work. They look different, but solve the camera angle problem of getting everyone on screen. Recently, they announced the Meeting Owl 5 Pro. While the camera specs have been improved, the real upgrade story for Mac users is the connectivity this new model brings.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed the company’s IT network from 2009 to 2021. With his experience in deploying and managing firewalls, switches, mobile device management system, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, 1000’s of Macs, and 1000’s of iPads, Bradley will highlight the ways Apple IT managers deploy, IT users deploy IT users supporting Apple devices, train Apple management methods. Apple can improve its products for IT departments.

What’s new in Meeting Owl 5 Pro?

If you’ve used Owl Labs’ previous cameras, you know the usual drill: they were fancy 360-degree webcams that sat in the middle of a table and made it super easy for everyone to be on the phone. They were really popular in schools and some children were in villages. Meeting Owl 5 Pro tries to be something more. It wants to be the only device on the table.

The main feature of this unit is the integrated docking station. Previously, you needed a camera, a speaker, and a different way to connect your Mac’s screen to a TV (usually an HDMI dongle or an AirPlay connection on an Apple TV). The Owl 5 Pro combines all that into one USB-C connection. You connect a single cable to your MacBook, and it carries the camera, audio, and video output to the room display. It also goes through wired Ethernet as well.

Beyond the “one cable to rule it all” approach, Owl Labs has clearly targeted the enterprise administrator with this release:

• MDEP-Ready Architecture: It is designed to support the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform. For Microsoft’s larger environments, this is a welcome improvement from an administrative POV.
• Wired Daisy-Chaining: If you have a large boardroom or conference that requires two Owl cameras, you can now connect them via Ethernet rather than relying on wireless pairing. As someone who has a rule of thumb that says “if it’s firm, it’s firm,” this is a great option. It reduces the need for IT to constantly pair them.
• Kensington Lock Slot: It sounds small, but this is an important step for physical safety. These are the types of devices that can easily “walk around” in a conference room. As the price of these units increases there, this becomes even more important.

Camera and audio specifications

While structured communication is a major topic for IT managers, the camera itself has evolved significantly. The Meeting Owl 5 Pro features a 4K Ultra HD camera.

Version 5 also uses the updated Owl Intelligence System (OIS) to handle speaker tracking. If you haven’t used Owl in a few years, this is the “magic” part where it follows who’s talking. Also, it’s amazing in mixed environments. The camera sits in the center of the table and automatically pans and zooms to frame whoever is speaking.

On the audio and microphone side, it has a range of 18 feet using eight radiant microphones so it should sound like the mic is in front of someone rather than in the middle of the room.

Finish it

The Meeting Owl 5 Pro is available for pre-order for $2,599. That’s a serious price jump from previous, consumer-friendly models. It is clearly aimed at IT departments that want to equip 50 rooms at once rather than a small group purchasing one from an offsite location. I love the new features they have added. I always look at IT hard work as part of the cost of new solutions.

The most expensive part of a hybrid meeting is not the $2,600 camera, but the ten minutes while six people watch the presenter struggle to get HDMI audio working. If this device delivers the promise of a “one cable” experience that works every time someone needs it, it will be worth it. Hardware is relatively inexpensive compared to ongoing technical support challenges.

If you have a Q1 budget and a conference room that frustrates Mac users, Meeting Owl 5 Pro may be the conflict-eliminator you’ve been looking for. I’m hoping to get a review unit after it launches to test out all the new features.

You can pre-order it from Owl Labs.

Apple @ Work is brought to you only by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that combines in one place professional-grade all the solutions needed to seamlessly and automatically use, manage and protect Apple devices in the workplace. More than 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work effortlessly and affordably. Ask for your EXTRA TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.