What printer would you advise for Macbook Pro?

[DD88]

Basically just need a printer for documents ,nothing major. Just for printing out receipts, invoices etc.
Will probably be used every other day. All the printers I’ve seen are either ridiculously expensive like the HP officejet 200. I’ve crossed that out now as I know from personal experience the HP app is abysmal and never works when you want to print wirelessly. Ive heard equally crap reviews about Epson and canon printers too. Brother laser printers were recommended to me instead of inkjet however the one I’ve seen is big and I’d rather have a smaller printer and I’m told on the Amazon reviews it has trouble hooking up to macbooks because they don’t have dedicated drivers and when you print wirelessly it’s only really basic and doesn’t print out documents ? . I would like to use AirPrint instead of having to connect the Macbook to the printer
My old printer is about 12 years old now and prints around 2 pages a minute and want something new.
Thanks 😎

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I have a Brother laserjet that does black/white and uses Apples AirPrint. Not expensive especially on sale and toner is cheap as well and AirPrint works flawlessly on all my Apple devices.

 

[DD88]

I have a Brother laserjet that does black/white and uses Apples AirPrint. Not expensive especially on sale and toner is cheap as well and AirPrint works flawlessly on all my Apple devices.

May i ask what model number it is ? The brother app has bad reviews too , actually none of the printing apps have good reviews haha

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Brother HL-L2370DW

I don’t use any app just the built in printer options on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. Never really needed more options than what it had.

Additionally, I despise inkjet printers because I rarely print and when I did they were always clogged. What really pissed me off though was most companies won’t let you print if you are out of one color. Out of yellow and want to print black/white…nope! Like WTF. I go months without printing and this laser jet has never failed me.

 

[wilberforce]

I use this for this purpose for color documents:

Epson EcoTank ET-3830 Wireless Color All-in-One Cartridge-Free Supertank Printer with Scan, Copy, Auto 2-Sided Printing and Ethernet – The Perfect Printer Productive Families,White

Your busy home needs a printer that’s fast, affordable, easy to use, and has premium features. That’s why we developed the EcoTank ET-3830 – an innovative cartridge-free solution that uses high-capacity, easily refillable ink tanks. So you’ll worry less about running out of ink, and save a lot on...

www.amazon.com

Fairly expensive to buy (because, unsurprisingly, Epson want to make some money), but the ink is extremely low cost. Color accuracy is not great (so not great as a photo printer), but it is pretty fast for general document printing (if using the normal print quality, which is acceptable. The high quality print modes are slow). Lower models in the range are slower, or don't have paper trays, not recommended.

I also have two Brother laser printers which work well for black and white, all work using Airprint. However, it is really nice to have a color printer.

 

[xraydoc]

I have a Brother 3170-CDW color laser and it works great. Not expensive. I'm also using 3rd party toner cartridges and they're fine in the printer.

It's connected to my ethernet network so it's available over the network and wirelessly to all my devices.

I don't use any Brother software -- just the built-in macOS printer drivers and AirPrint for iOS.

 

[JW5566]

I'll second the Brother laser suggestion. I have a small mono laser and the toner lasts for ages, the A4 cassette is an inline draw (not the awful rear feeders that can gather dust or feed in wonky) and it's really quick.

 

[wilberforce]

Brother monochome laser printers are well suited for home use. They separate the toner replacement from the drum replacement, making the toner replacement more economical (until you need a new drum, usually precipitated by using cheap non-Brother toner). Brother laser printer quality is fairly good, but not the best, so usually adequate for home use.
Brother fusers usually do not last as long (or fuse as well), because HP have a patent on the best fuser technology, forcing Brother to use an inferior fuser technology. Often the first page printed from a small Brother laser printer is not 100% fused (inadequate initial heat transfer). Most people don't notice because they don't know what to look for. Fusers are expensive and require technical knowledge to replace, again usually because people use cheap toner.
The cheaper Brother laser printers are not actually cheaper in the long run. The pages per toner cartridge is much less. Which is fine if you don't print a lot.
If you want a color printer, the Epson Ecotank printers are in my opinion a good choice.
btw, printers are highly competitive, and you always get what you pay for. If one printer is priced much less than another but appears to have the same features, you can be 100% guaranteed you are giving up something, and often something not obvious. Such as real-world print speed, or printhead life.

 

[Geoff777]

I got an Epson L3150 some time ago and am very pleased with it.

Epson L3150 Support | Epson Europe

www.epson.eu

It's a fine little daily printer / scanner and even manages colour photos well. Small footprint, low cost, very cheap ink, works wirelessly just fine with my iMac, phone and iPad. Might be worth a look.

 

[wilberforce]

I got an Epson L3150 some time ago and am very pleased with it.

Epson L3150 Support | Epson Europe

www.epson.eu

It's a fine little daily printer / scanner and even manages colour photos well. Small footprint, low cost, very cheap ink, works wirelessly just fine with my iMac, phone and iPad. Might be worth a look.

Yes, this is one of the EcoTank models. Epson numbers their printers differently in different parts of the world. Not as fast as some others in the range, which cost more

 

[Tagbert]

May i ask what model number it is ? The brother app has bad reviews too , actually none of the printing apps have good reviews haha

I’ve had a Brother HL-L2340D for several years. It has been bullet-proof. No problem printing using AirPrint. Supports all the basics like two-sided printing on long or short edge. A tone cartridge is not expensive and lasts forever But it is good to get a backup and keep it around because you’ll always run out at the least convenient time.

It’s a medium size printer. Larger than most inkjets but much smaller than those clumsy printer/scanner combos. It’s connected to our Wifi and it sits in a corner and any device we have can print to it, Mac, iPad, iPhone.

I’ve never used the Brother app for anything related to printing. I do have a Brother sheetfed scanner that replaces a Fujitsu when Fujitsu refused to update to support newer Mac OS. The Brother scanning software is basic but works just fine. I could probably scan from inside of graphic apps, I just can’t be bothered to figure out how.

Laser printers are much better than inkjets for a basic utility printer. The black and white print quality is good and you won’t have the maintenance problems of an inkjet. You won’t spend a fortune on ink. I swear inkjets squirt half a cartridge just to clean out the nozzles sometimes And they still clog up. If I need a photo printed, I send it to my local Walgreens and the results are better.

 

[wilberforce]

Laser printers are much better than inkjets for a basic utility printer. The black and white print quality is good and you won’t have the maintenance problems of an inkjet. You won’t spend a fortune on ink. I swear inkjets squirt half a cartridge just to clean out the nozzles sometimes And they still clog up. If I need a photo printed, I send it to my local Walgreens and the results are better.

10 years ago I would have agreed with you, but the technology has changed. Ink for tank printers is so cheap you can print as much as you like - often cheaper than running a small laser printer. I have two laser printers and two inkjet printers, and I am fairly impressed with the inkjets nowadays.
Utility inkjet printers that use dye ink are now very resistant to clogging, but you do have to use them somewhat regularly. If you go many months without printing then don't get an inkjet.
Printing photos is a whole other story, but I would just say that even the most basic inkjet utility printer can print pleasing (but not great) photos provided high quality ($$$) photo paper is used. In comparison, photos printed on a laser printer are really poor.
Anyway, if all one one wants is to print black and white text and graphics, a monochrome laser printer is no question the best tool for the job.

 

[xraydoc]

10 years ago I would have agreed with you, but the technology has changed. Ink for tank printers is so cheap you can print as much as you like - often cheaper than running a small laser printer. I have two laser printers and two inkjet printers, and I am fairly impressed with the inkjets nowadays.
Utility inkjet printers that use dye ink are now very resistant to clogging, but you do have to use them somewhat regularly. If you go many months without printing then don't get an inkjet.
Printing photos is a whole other story, but I would just say that even the most basic inkjet utility printer can print pleasing (but not great) photos provided high quality ($$$) photo paper is used. In comparison, photos printed on a laser printer are really poor.
Anyway, if all one one wants is to print black and white text and graphics, a monochrome laser printer is no question the best tool for the job.

This is why I bought a color laser. I can go weeks to a month without printing anything and my previous inkjet would clog or would require re-printing the first page due to print head issues. The laser printer seemingly doesn't care how long it sits unused.

I haven't printed a photo in ages, so I'll get them printed at the drugstore if necessary.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you don't need color, get a Brother laser all-in-one.

Print, copy, scan (the scanner can scan in color, even though it's a B&W printer).

Priced right and they're built well, last a long time.

 

[roflc0pter]

+1 to Brother Laser AIO

 

[wilberforce]

This is why I bought a color laser. I can go weeks to a month without printing anything and my previous inkjet would clog or would require re-printing the first page due to print head issues. The laser printer seemingly doesn't care how long it sits unused.

I haven't printed a photo in ages, so I'll get them printed at the drugstore if necessary.

Sorry, but I can't recommend a color laser printer, at least not one within the reach of most home users. Good that it satisfies your needs, though.

 

[DD88]

So let me ask, if I get a Brother LaserJet printer like the one pictured (around £120) I won’t need to download the Brother app on my MacBook and I’ll just be able to use AirPrint ?

 

[xraydoc]

Sorry, but I can't recommend a color laser printer, at least not one within the reach of most home users. Good that it satisfies your needs, though.

I don't see why not. It was less than $350, it's fast (like 19-20 ppm), and toner is cheap and lasts for hundreds, if not thousands, of pages depending on % coverage. If you have a significant print volume but don't need to print photos, compact color lasers are only slightly more expensive than compact B&W lasers.

The initial cost is more than an inkjet, but they don't require $85 worth of ink cartridges every 150 pages.

 

[xraydoc]

View attachment 2043712

So let me ask, if I get a Brother LaserJet printer like the one pictured (around £120) I won’t need to download the Brother app on my MacBook and I’ll just be able to use AirPrint ?

I don't know the specs of that particular one, but I have no Brother software on my iPad or iPhone, and mine prints from them just fine.
On my Mac, I went to the Add Printer dialog, selected my printer from what it sees on the network, and pressed Add. No Brother software, either. My kids' and wife's computers similarly have no Brother software installed.

 

[wilberforce]

So let me ask, if I get a Brother LaserJet printer like the one pictured (around £120) I won’t need to download the Brother app on my MacBook and I’ll just be able to use AirPrint ?

I don't know that particular model, but assuming it is compatible with AirPrint (check the website, all recent printers are), you should be able to just use AirPrint. One one Mac I use the Brother driver, on another Mac and on iPads I use AirPrint.

There is really no disadvantage to using the Brother driver, though. It gives more and better control than the AirPrint driver.

btw, do not confuse the brother printer driver, and the various Brother apps. I use the Brother driver (on one of my Macs), but not the apps.

 

[wilberforce]

The initial cost is more than an inkjet, but they don't require $85 worth of ink cartridges every 150 pages.

The ink cost for EcoTank printers is about $60 for about 5000 pages (of text). (Ink is in bottles, not cartridges. Genuine Epson ink, too.)

In comparison, a set of Brother color toners for a small Brother color laser printer costs about $300 and yields 1300 pages, according to Brother. Twenty times the cost per page.

 

[xraydoc]

The ink cost for EcoTank printers is about $60 for about 5000 pages (of text). (Ink is in bottles, not cartridges. Genuine Epson ink, too.)

In comparison, a set of Brother color toners for a small Brother color laser printer costs about $300 and yields 1300 pages, according to Brother. Twenty times the cost per page.

A set of color toner (3rd party; not remanufactured/refilled like with printer cartridges) cost me $75 on Amazon. No way did I spend $300 on replacement toner.

 

[wilberforce]

A set of color toner (3rd party; not remanufactured/refilled like with printer cartridges) cost me $75 on Amazon. No way did I spend $300 on replacement toner.

I have had to spend several hundred dollars replacing a drum and fuser as result of using a third party toner. While often third party toners do not cause this, I cannot recommend to someone to use third party toner. Toner is not just colored or black powder. The size, shape and composition of the toner particles has to be just right. Third party toner is often more angular from grinding (a cheaper process) than original toner where the particles are more rounded. The composition is mainly plastics that melt and fuse at a specific temperature. Also need to be electrostatically attracted to the charged drum surface, and some do so better than others.

Great that it is working out well for you, though.

 

[orl2222]

I have to agree with the Brother 2370 DW. All I did was download their network set up utility. for Mac mini m1. It is I print, so my iPad detected it as well. I also have a windows 11 laptop, and it was recognized there as well. It is zero configuration.
I'd avoid Epson. They update their firmware to only accept their ink, I have a epson WF3720 pro, and the drivers are a mess for both windows and Mac. I don't print in color, but basically The epson is used as a scanner only. I'm retired now, and I regret the day that I gave a friend my old brother laser printer that I bought in 1999. He loves it, toner is cheap and uses it every day.