Preserve managed apps with Return to Service

Devices erased with Return to Service can now keep their managed apps through the erase, so a redeployed device is ready for its next user without re-downloading every app. Admins turn on the new Allow app preservation during Return to Service option in the Automated Device Enrollment Library Item for iPhone and iPad. Devices running iOS or iPadOS 26 or later then show a Preserve managed apps option, checked by default, in the Erase device modal after Use Return to Service is selected. Only managed-app executables are kept; all user data, including each app's own stored data, is still erased. The option is also available through the Iru Enterprise API's erase action, and as an admin-controlled default for end-user-triggered Return to Service through Self Service. 

For more details, see Erase an Apple Device.