linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/apple

Apple BMAC and MACE onboard Ethernet for vintage Macs

The built-in Ethernet controllers found on 1990s Apple Macintosh computers: the MACE chip used in early-1990s Quadra-class machines (including the Quadra 840AV), and the BMAC controller integrated into PowerPC-based Power Macs through the late 1990s such as the Power Mac G3.

keep-annotate conf=0.82 last_sold=1999 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
82%

recommendation

Worth keeping but flagging as legacy, because the hardware hasn't shipped in new machines since around 1999 and only vintage Mac hobbyists running Linux on PowerPC or m68k still rely on it. Upstream activity in 2024 and 2025 has been limited to routine API adjustments and a small cleanup rather than meaningful feature work, and there is no successor driver since the Ethernet is soldered onto these old Macs.

repository signals

7 files
3,738 source lines
17 commits, 5y
+67 / −122 lines added / removed, 5y
13 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 17 total · active in 13/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-05: 1 commit · +19 −19 2021-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-10: 2 commits · +6 −9 2021-11: 1 commit · +9 −5 2021-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-01: 2 commits · +15 −6 2022-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-05: 1 commit · +0 −2 2022-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-12: 2 commits · +2 −2 2023-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-02: 1 commit · +2 −6 2023-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-07: 1 commit · +1 −1 2023-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-09: 1 commit · +2 −4 2023-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-09: 1 commit · +1 −2 2024-10: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-04: 1 commit · +5 −5 2025-05: 2 commits · +4 −60 2025-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    bmac still received a netdev-targeted driver patch in 2025, showing some upstream maintenance rather than abandonment.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    macmace was still touched for driver API adaptation in 2024; this is maintenance activity, not a removal series.

  3. en.wikipedia.org

    BMAC maps to late-1990s Power Mac G3 era hardware, indicating the newest mainstream systems in this family are long obsolete.

  4. en.wikipedia.org

    macmace serves Quadra AV-era Macintosh hardware from the early 1990s, reinforcing that present-day deployments are limited to vintage systems.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local tree inspection via shell showed three real drivers (bmac, mace, macmace) for PPC32/Mac onboard Ethernet. lore_file_timeline MCP on bmac.c, mace.c, and macmace.c showed recent touches through 2024-2025, but mostly treewide/API churn plus one driver-local bmac cleanup; those same timelines did not surface an obvious removal thread. Wikipedia URLs are canonical recall used for hardware dating: this directory targets 1990s Apple Macs, not hardware sold new in 2025. Recommendation is keep-annotate because upstream still carries occasional fixes, but deployment is now limited to legacy/vintage machines with no natural successor driver for the same built-in hardware.