Airprint list - are more being added?

[Arelunde]

I have a fairly new wireless Canon Pixma MX870 printer. It's not on the Airprint list, even though other Canon Pixmas are. Is there any way to add it? Or a way to request Apple include it? Does anyone know if Apple is actually adding devices to the Airprint list. I've bookmarked the page with all the devices listed, but don't see any changes. Here's the link...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356

I'm currently using Print n Share, but it's not as integrated as nor as reliable. Airprint is such a great feature - wish I could use it.

 

[vmachiel]

They add some from time to time, but there is no way of telling which will be added in the near future. You could give feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ but there is no telling if they will listen to you

 

[Ashwood11]

I have a fairly new wireless Canon Pixma MX870 printer. It's not on the Airprint list, even though other Canon Pixmas are. Is there any way to add it? Or a way to request Apple include it? Does anyone know if Apple is actually adding devices to the Airprint list. I've bookmarked the page with all the devices listed, but don't see any changes. Here's the link...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356

I'm currently using Print n Share, but it's not as integrated as nor as reliable. Airprint is such a great feature - wish I could use it.

"Verify that the*AirPrint-capable*printer has the latest firmware version installed. See the printer documentation or contact the printer vendor for support."

I believe that the printer manufacturer must include AirPrint firmware when the printer is manufactured. It is not Apple that chooses to include any printer on the compatible list.

 

[thewitt]

The manufacturer needs to build it in, that's correct. Apple may not have updated their website, but the manufacturers site would say AirPrint capable if it is.

 

[rbgatti]

I have a new Canon Pixma MG8200 series printer (latest highend model) and needed to do a firmware upgrade to make it AirPrint capable. After the upgrade, it works like a charm. Hope this helps.

 

[Arelunde]

Firmware upgrade ... hmmm. I'll certainly check that out. I bought my MX870 not more than 4-5 months ago, but it was before the iOS5 launch with the expanded Airprint. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Arelunde]

Did some research and here's a quote from a Canon forum about the MX870:

"The PIXMA MX870 is not compatible with AirPrint, however the Easy-PhotoPrint iEPP app will allow you to print PDFs from your iPad 2 to your PIXMA MX870."

Thus, if something is important enough to print, you could copy the material, create a Pages file and paste, make a PDF and use the Easy-PhotoPrint iEPP app to print it. Cumbersome, but at least better than nothing.

And, yes, the capability to handle AirPrint-generated print jobs lies in the printer's software and, to some extent, its hardware - not the iPhone or iPad. From what I read, AirPrint likely converts whatever is being sent to a printer into a PDF. The printers must be set up from the manufacturer to handle these PDFs, which are sent by iDevices using a unique one-size-fits-all printer "driver".

Essentially, it's a reverse of computers having to install drivers for a specific printer. In this case, the printer must have the AirPrint driver installed. iDevices have one print program and it's up to the printer to accommodate it.

 

[agentphish]

You don't need an AirPrint capable printer. You just need AirPrint Activator and a Mac with printer sharing.

http://netputing.com/airprintactivator/airprint-activator-v2-0/

I've been using it with my completely unsupported Brother laser that is on my network through my Airport Extreme for about a year. Works flawlessly from any iOS Device.

 

[anthonymoody]

You don't need an AirPrint capable printer. You just need AirPrint Activator and a Mac with printer sharing.

http://netputing.com/airprintactivator/airprint-activator-v2-0/

I've been using it with my completely unsupported Brother laser that is on my network through my Airport Extreme for about a year. Works flawlessly from any iOS Device.

Exactly. This or other similar applets on the (running) Mac can make any printer AirPrint compatible.

 

[Arelunde]

Well, with a PC, it appears there's a choice of buying a new AirPrint-capable printer OR buying a Mac. I'd LOVE to do the latter ... but that's not in the financial cards. Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated.

 

[thewitt]

There is gateway software that runs on Windows as well

 

[rebby]

Well, with a PC, it appears there's a choice of buying a new AirPrint-capable printer OR buying a Mac. I'd LOVE to do the latter ... but that's not in the financial cards. Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated.

Give FingerPrint a try. Free trial even.

 

[unobtainium]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

AirPrint, thunderbolt, AirPlay. Add it to the list of stuff you can't do much with. Whether to blame apple or third parties who just haven't released many compatible accessories..who knows.