Despite what may have already been or will be reported elsewhere, P1 will have a full 56k internal hardware modem. It will not be a software modem at all. In fact, it will be identical to the modem used by Lombard/101 currently, and this modem will be utilized in Apple's next generation of iMac and PowerMac desktops, which are still codenamed "C2" and "SawTooth" respectively.

This use of the same modem across several product lines uncovers a new strategy by Apple called "core99," which is Apple's plan to unify its product line even further than it has currently. The plan involves P1, C2, SawTooth, and 102, the current codename for Apple's next generation PowerBook. (Lombard/101 is not actually a part of core99, since it was developed much earlier than all of these machines) All of these products use the same logicboard design and the same software. This unification of the software support for each CPU is a big step for Apple, which used to have a seperate team for each machine. The combined software effort is called "Borg," because it assimilates all four product lines. All of this unification leads to greatly reduced costs for Apple both in design, and manufacturing.

Back to the point: The software used to enable the modem in P1 will change, though only to accomodate new I/O chips used in the new generations of machines coming from Apple. The main thing here is that the modem will be a full hardware modem, not a software modem. What is a software modem? Well, it uses part of the processor to do its job, dragging down total performance. The "Geoport" modems of Apple's past were software modems, and were generally regarded as sub-par products from Apple.



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Written/Edited/Published by Doug B. Landry
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©1998 Doug B. Landry. All rights reserved. All or part may not be reproduced or distributed without prior consent.
Coded on a Apple Macintosh Powerbook G3 Series from Baton Rouge, LA