Sprint and Verizon 3G/EVDO and Mac Compatibility

We love Macs here at 3Gstore.com and EVDOinfo.com, and we know that many of you out there love them just as much as we do. For that reason, we aim to provide as much information as possible to better support Mac users.

The world of EVDO was a hostile place at first for the Macintosh. Very few devices offered support and even less offered native support. EVDOinfo.com was the FIRST site to create, provide, and SUPPORT solutions that allowed Mac owners to use EVDO when Verizon and (especially) Sprint said it was "not Mac compatible".

Fortunately, much has changed as the Mac increases in popularity. Now there are MANY more options to use EVDO with your Mac computer, and there are almost no modifications and tweaking of Mac OSX to make EVDO devices work. This article contains the latest EVDO and Mac compatibility information and links to further resources.

OSX Snow Leopard Compatibility:

Sprint and Verizon now offer a great deal of support and compatibility with Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard. To view a list of the devices compatible with the latest version of Mac OSX Snow Leopard, check out our Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard WWAN Supported EVDO Devices article.

April of 2008 marked a huge milestone in the Mac EVDO world when Sprint launched their new SmartView Connection manager. This brought the Sprint lineup of EVDO modems to the Mac for the first time, without having to fight against your computer to make your modem work. Check out our overview of the SmartView Connection Manager for more information! Nothing is totally flawless however (except the Mac), and occasionally software malfunctions. In December 2008, customers who were performing an Upgrade Install of Mac OSX Leopard version 10.5.3-10.5.6 were unable to connect their Sprint devices due to authentication issues. EVDOinfo.com has the information on this issue as well as the workaround in this article . Nearly every available Sprint device has OS X software available for it, with one exception: Mac users should avoid the Sprint u300 3G/4G USB modem. The latest Mac OSX Snow Leopard version of Sprint SmartView should be available from Sprint.com/download

Verizon's Access Manager and Mac:

"VZAM" as its called, has been available for Mac OS X longer than any other carrier's connection manager software, to the best of our re-collection. Verizon even had a Snow Leopard version compatible version out the same day that Snow Leopard was officially released! Regrettably, a new trend has surfaced with Verizon and a couple of their newest devices do not have an OS X vzam app available: Mac users should stay away from Verizon's "global" USB1000 and AD3700. You can find the latest Mac OS X version of Verizon Access Manager connection manager software at http://vzam.net

Verizon 4G LTE & Mac OS X:

The Verizon UML290 is currently the only 3G/4G USB modem that is compatible with Mac OS X. More info at:
Verizon Officially Adds Mac OS X support for UML290

Almost all of us can agree that Apple's product design is revolutionary, and beautiful to boot. However, sometimes the designs can create problems using certain devices that are not as flexibly designed. Such was the case with the Macbook Air. The single USB port on the Air caused quite a stir when it was introduced for a couple reasons. Not only was it the sole USB port on the device, but it was recessed in such a way that many devices couldn't connect to it. 3gstore.com and EVDOinfo.com have tested and then tested again to find out which EVDO cards do an do not work with the Macbook Air. Here are the findings: EVDO and MacBook Air.

It is good to know that Apple is a company always on the move, and they are constantly updating their product line and their designs. This can sometimes cause minor problems, as with the case of the Macbook Air, but most of the time they provide us with significant improvements. This is reflected in the new design of the Macbook Pro Unibody 15. The previous generation of Apple's Professional workhorse laptop had two USB ports, one on either side of the computer. This prevented anyone from using a Y USB cable with an EVDO modem. Read about the new design and how it affects EVDO devices here.

Older Combinations:

As mentioned above, the current EVDO modems available from both Sprint and Verizon EVDO generally play nicely with Macs right out of the box in most cases. If you have an older modem or are using an older OS (pre-Tiger), issues may still arise. We recommend the user of Cradlepoint routers with modern USB modems because they allow even the oldest Macs with ethernet or early versions of Airport/WiFi, to continue to be useful web-browsing computers.

Please feel free to call 1-866-3gstore (347-8673) or send an email to sales@3gstore.com with any questions, comments, concerns or issues pertaining to the Mac and EVDO.