Apple is working on a solution for accessing Exchange in its Mac apps as Microsoft retires the connection they rely on.
The outage affects work or school accounts hosted through Microsoft’s Exchange Online service. This can disrupt mail, calendar, contacts, notes and reminders while Apple prepares an update and administrators maintain temporary options.
A reader at Old Dominion University submitted an IT alert reporting problems accessing university email through Apple’s integrated Mail app. The advisory advises Mac users to switch to Outlook and says that iPhone and iPad apps are not affected.
The issue affects Exchange Online, Microsoft’s cloud service for email, calendars and other account information at work and school. Apple’s Mac apps access that information through Exchange Web Services (EWS), an older connection method that Microsoft began disabling in October 2026.
Any organization using this connection may face similar issues, depending on their settings. Microsoft says administrators can keep approved apps connected temporarily before Microsoft shuts down EWS completely in April 2027.
The change affects the connection used by Apple’s Mac apps. iPhone and iPad use Exchange ActiveSync, a different connection method that is not affected by the EWS shutdown.
Apple says a future macOS 27 update will move all five affected Mac apps to Microsoft’s replacement connection method. Apple has not announced when the update will arrive.
