Apple Phases Out Fax Capabilities With New OS Lion

While the march into a more mobile-connected world has done its damndest to phase out paper, faxing seems to be here to stay. In industries like law and construction, where an original copy or a personal signature can mean the difference between moving forward and postponing, modern incarnations like internet fax services have been a godsend.

But Mac users reliant on sending faxes through a modem attached to the telephone through Mac OS 10.6 were shocked when the computer giant Apple released the highly anticipated Mac OS 10.7 Lion in July. Stripped of these fax capabilities, Lion instead uses a Print-and-Scan feature that has left many users unsatisfied, searching for new faxing solutions. If you are one of them, perhaps it is time to upgrade to a web fax service this fall.

The changes are small but significant. The Print & Fax preference pane from 10.6 Snow Leopard is now called Print & Scan, but when you click the + button to add a device, you can still add a fax modem. But the Apple USB Modem (discontinued in 2009) won’t work in Lion because it relies on 32-bit drivers that don’t work (and thus aren’t included) in the 64-bit Lion. So USB modem users will have to find a new way to fax.

If you have been using a modem to send a fax, you have probably been looking for a change for some time. Online faxing provides many features not available with a modem. You can get all the conveniences of e-mail, including no busy signals, add-on contact list clients and desktop notifications so you won't miss your modem when you upgrade to Lion.