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hassel

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 18, 2016
66
49
Narnia
There is so many printers out there, the companies all want my money but will they be still making drivers for the next mac OS update. any advise would be appreciated/
 

jpn

Cancelled
Feb 9, 2003
1,854
1,988
It's much easier now than even just a few years ago.
The easiest way to find out which printer company and of that company's models are a best fit for macOS as well as iOS is to look if the printer supports Air Print.
Even if you don't intend to use it, without that Air Print support it shows that that model or Company is not looking to support macOS/iOS.

Other than this, it's always best to get a model that is recently launched.
Models that are very very cheap are suspect. They usually have the highest per sheet printing costs.
 

Starfia

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2011
1,020
853
I don't think I can give better advice than that – it's a weird and wild world. AirPrint is at least Apple's first successful implementation of a strict protocol resulting in consistent compatibility and results across many printers (though it's taken most of a decade for only some percentage of brands to support it).

Off the top of my head (and I'm really no aficionado), I'd say Canon has historically been okay at supporting Apple, Brother and Toshiba seem like they've been trying, and HP has never struck me as caring much about Apple users.
 
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chscag

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,946
Fort Worth, Texas
There is so many printers out there, the companies all want my money but will they be still making drivers for the next mac OS update. any advise would be appreciated/

Brother, Canon, and Epson have been real good at supporting macOS and providing drivers. While HP makes good quality printers, their support for macOS is spotty. Generally, their line of LaserJet printers are supported but difficult to setup and getting them to run wireless. Stay away from Samsung!
 
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jpn

Cancelled
Feb 9, 2003
1,854
1,988
I don't think I can give better advice than that – it's a weird and wild world. AirPrint is at least Apple's first successful implementation of a strict protocol resulting in consistent compatibility and results across many printers (though it's taken most of a decade for only some percentage of brands to support it).

Off the top of my head (and I'm really no aficionado), I'd say Canon has historically been okay at supporting Apple, Brother and Toshiba seem like they've been trying, and HP has never struck me as caring much about Apple users.

the only other general piece of advice is to TRY to find out if that company and that model has a way to set the machine so that when it hooked up to WiFi it will tell you if there is new printer firmware available that you wish it to install for you.
however, this kind of info may be difficult to find in advance.
 
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Mitthrawnuruodo

Moderator emeritus
Mar 10, 2004
14,683
1,506
Bergen, Norway
We got ourselves an Epson 960XP a while back and that is an amazing printer.

Supports Wifi and Apple Airprint (allowing wireless printing from our Macs, iPads and iPhones), is fast, supports A3 prints and also includes a scanner. Truly a (relatively) small all-in-one printer.

https://epson.com/For-Home/Printers...-Small-in-One-All-in-One-Printer/p/C11CE82201

If this is "too much", look for a "trusted" printer manufacturer** supporting AirPrint and you should be relatively future-proof.

** I've had luck with HP and Epson, so far, but I see the above posters have some other experiences with HP, so maybe look for (Mac-) reviews on any specific printer model you end up looking at. :)
 
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