The Apple USB Modem is a combined 56 kbit/s data modem and 14.4 kbit/s fax external

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

introduced by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

after the internal 56k modem was dropped on the October 12, 2005

iMac G5 The iMac G5 is an all-in-one personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from August 2004 to March 2006. It is the final iMac to use a PowerPC processor, making it the last model that could natively run Mac ...

revision. While it looks similar, it should not be confused with Apple's optional USB Ethernet Adapter accessory, available for its

MacBook Air The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size keyboard, a machined aluminum case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally positioned ...

and MacBook Pro Retina range of laptops since 2008.

History

Apple introduced its first true modems in 1984, the ''Apple Modem 300'' & ''1200'' modems ( V21/V22). Prior to that they offered a third party Apple-badged comparatively low-tech

acoustic coupler In telecommunications, an acoustic coupler is an interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone. The link is achieved through converting electric signals from the phone line to sound a ...

. Those were followed by the industry standard 2400/data and combined 9600/fax ( V29) ''AppleFax Modem'' in 1987. Apple introduced the internal 2400 data/fax modem card for its

Macintosh Portable Macintosh Portable is a laptop designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from September 1989 to October 1991. It is the first battery-powered Macintosh, which garnered significant excitement from critics, but sales to customers ...

in 1989 as well as released its last external desktop ''Apple Data Modem 2400''. Only standard internal modems were offered during the 1990s through 2005, with the notable exception of Apple's foray into

GeoPort GeoPort is a serial data system used on some models of the Apple Macintosh that could be externally clocked to run at a 2 Mbit/s data rate. GeoPort slightly modified the existing Mac serial port pins to allow the computer's internal DSP hardware or ...

passive

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...

modems which relied heavily upon the computer's software and processing power rather than dedicated hardware (like Apple's proprietary internal ''Express Modem''). The ''Apple USB Modem'' is Apple's first true external modem since the ''Apple Data Modem 2400'' was discontinued in 1992. As of September 2009 it is no longer available in the US Apple Store, but it still works (at least for fax) as of

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

version 10.6.2. No officially supported 64-bit driver exists, and as

Mac OS X Lion OS X Lion, also known as Mac OS X Lion, (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Speci ...

operates by default in 64-bit mode, the USB modem will not function in Lion without workarounds.odems>

Features

The Apple USB Modem supports

V.92 V.92 is an ITU-T recommendation, titled ''Enhancements to Recommendation V.90'', that establishes a modem standard allowing near 56 kb/s download and 48 kb/s upload rates. With V.92 PCM is used for both the upstream and downstream connections; prev ...

Caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...

, wake-on-ring, telephone answering (V.253), and modem on hold. The modem is manufactured by

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

. A

device driver In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and ot ...

for the modem was introduced with

version 10.4.3. It retailed for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

49 at the time of its introduction. Apart from using the Apple USB Modem for

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

dial-up and faxing, it is also being suggested as a low cost line interface (aka FXO interface) for telephony applications, such as for telephone systems (software PBX) and answering machine software. The decision to drop the built-in dial-up modem is reminiscent of Apple's decision to drop built-in floppy drives. With the rise of

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

Internet and the general availability of wireless networking, it is likely that Apple felt that it was of more use for people to have broadband using an ethernet cable or a wireless system instead of dial-up. The highly miniaturized product, about the size of a cigarette lighter and with a 4.6-inch long USB cable, won a RED DOT design award for good design.

Windows support

The modem identifies itself as "Motorola SM56 USB Data Fax Modem" and a driver was provided via Boot Camp Assistant.

References

{{portal, Internet, Telecommunication, Electronics Apple Inc. peripherals Modems Computer-related introductions in 2005