Intune Deployments + Windows Autopatch Approvals: What Admins Should Check

If you manage Windows PCs with Intune, 2 changes give you more control over what reaches your devices. Intune Deployments (public preview) rolls out apps and policies in rings. Windows Autopatch lets you approve updates by type and pause a bad one. What this would cost you 1) Azure: none used, so $0.00 (ESTIMATE; only the Intune and Microsoft 365 admin centers, and my lab PC is a VM on my own computer). 2) Licenses: Microsoft 365 Business Premium (no Teams), list price per user: $18.79 a month paid yearly (about $225 a year) or $22.55 a month paid monthly. Covered by my free trial when recorded. It includes Intune Plan 1 and Entra ID; Autopatch is available with it (sources 6, 7). With Teams: $22.00 paid yearly, $26.40 paid monthly. 3) Estimated total for you, 1 user: $0 in Microsoft's one-month free trial if you cancel in time, then $18.79 a month paid yearly or $22.55 paid monthly (ESTIMATE at list price; not included: the PC, which needs Windows Pro, Education or Enterprise, source 6). Prices read Oct 11, 2026, 10:17 AM ET (source 7). They are list prices, not my bill, and can vary by market. Level: Intermediate What we set up: my lab tenant with 1 lab PC, a 3-ring plan (Test Pilots, Early Wave, Full Fleet) with 1 policy deployment, and 3 quality update policies. Nothing is created, changed, approved or paused on camera. What we know (Microsoft docs) Deployments is a public preview: usable now, but Microsoft can still change it. Added the week of Sep 21, 2026 (sources 1, 2). A plan is a reusable template of rings, groups and waits, with no app or policy in it. A deployment runs 1 app or policy through it; you can pause, resume or cancel it (source 2). Preview support: Windows 10 and later; Settings catalog and endpoint security policies; Win32 and Enterprise App Catalog apps (source 2). Rings must be 1+ hour apart. An All devices or All users ring is always last and replaces earlier required groups. A group on both the policy and a ring pauses the deployment with an error (source 2). Microsoft's Sep 1, 2026 notice: the new Autopatch approvals are expected in all tenants by Oct 15, 2026. They cover quality, .NET Framework and quick machine recovery updates (sources 3, 4). New policies: monthly security updates automatic, all else manual. Automatic can wait 0 to 30 days. You can't change the method on an existing policy (sources 4, 5). A pause stops new devices getting a release, doesn't uninstall it, and can take up to 8 hours (source 4). After 2 failed starts in a row, quick machine recovery applies a Microsoft fix, if there is one (source 5). Autopatch is available with Business Premium or Windows Enterprise E3 or E5, plus Intune and Entra ID P1 or P2 (source 6). What we don't know, or this video doesn't cover Whether your tenant has the newer approval view yet: Microsoft says "expected" by Oct 15, 2026. When Deployments leaves preview, and its license needs beyond Intune: not covered. Your price depends on plan, term and market. Not covered: creating policies, approving or pausing live, feature updates. Chapters 00:00 Two changes, and my lab 00:31 Intune Deployments: rings 00:55 Plans vs deployments 01:31 What the preview supports, 4 rules 02:41 Windows Autopatch and Oct 15 03:13 Quick machine recovery 03:30 Approvals: automatic or manual 04:23 Pausing a release 04:50 Licenses and the report 05:24 Screen tour: my lab tenant 06:40 Your checklist and recap Jargon Intune: Microsoft's cloud tool for managing company devices. Ring: one stage of a rollout, with its own devices. Quality update: the monthly Windows fix pack. Sources (Microsoft Learn, checked Oct 10, 2026; 7 is a microsoft.com page) 1. What's new in Intune, week of Sep 21, 2026 (updated Oct 5). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/int... 2. Deployment plans and deployments in Intune, Sep 21, 2026. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/int... 3. Windows message center: More control for Windows Autopatch updates, Sep 1, 2026. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win... 4. Windows quality updates and .NET Framework updates, Sep 1, 2026. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win... 5. Quick machine recovery updates, Oct 2, 2026. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win... 6. Windows Autopatch prerequisites, Feb 26, 2026. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win... 7. Microsoft 365 Business Premium pricing, read Oct 11, 2026. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/micro... Corrections: none as of Oct 10, 2026 Teach-only: details confirmed in Microsoft's own docs. Ticket to Tech is a made-up company; no real users or data.