Apple has produced several lines of printers in its history, but no longer produces or supports these devices today. Though some early products use thermal technology, Apple's products can be broadly divided into three lines: ImageWriter (dot matrix), LaserWriter (PostScript laser), and StyleWriter (thermal inkjet).
Early products
editApple's first printer was the Apple Silentype, released in June 1979, shortly after the Apple II Plus. The Silentype was a thermal printer, which used a special paper and provided 80 column output. Also compatible with the Apple III, the Silentype was a rebranded Trendcom 200.[1][2]
The Apple Dot Matrix Printer (often shortened to Apple DMP) is a printer manufactured by C. Itoh and sold under Apple label in 1982 for the Apple II series, Lisa, and the Apple III.[1] Apple followed this release with a Qume daisy wheel engine, the Apple Letter Quality Printer (also known as the Apple Daisy Wheel Printer), in January 1983. This printer could print at forty characters per second.[1] Also in 1983, Apple released its only plotter, the Apple Color Plotter. This printer moved and rotated four color pens along the horizontal axis, the device moving the paper into order to allow its pens to render along the vertical axis.[1] The Apple Scribe Printer was a thermal transfer printer, first introduced in 1984 alongside the Apple IIc for a relatively low retail price, and compatible with the Apple IIe computer.[1]
Image | Name | Type | Interface | DPI | Introduced | Discontinued | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Silentype | Thermal | serial | N/A | March 1980 | October 1982 | Uses nonstandard DE-9 pinout[3] | |
Dot Matrix Printer | Dot Matrix | parallel | N/A | October 1982 | December 1984 | 9-pin[4][5] | |
Daisy Wheel Printer | Daisy Wheel | serial | N/A | January 1983 | December 1984 | Offers graphics[4][6][7] | |
Color Plotter | Plotter | serial | N/A | December 1983 | January 1988 | [8] | |
Scribe | Thermal | serial | 144 | April 1984 | December 1985 | Reviewed[9] |
Dot-matrix series
editImage | Name | Type | Interface | DPI | Introduced | Discontinued | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ImageWriter | Dot matrix | serial | 144 | June 1, 1984 | December 1, 1985 | 9-pin[10] | |
ImageWriter II | Dot matrix | serial | 160x144 | September 1, 1985 | Late 1996 | 9-pin[11] | |
ImageWriter LQ | Dot matrix | serial | 320x216 | August 1, 1987 | December 1, 1990 | 27-pin, Letter Quality[12] |
Laser printer series
editThe LaserWriter was a laser printer with built-in PostScript interpreter introduced by Apple in 1985. It was one of the first laser printers available to the mass market. In combination with WYSIWYG publishing software like PageMaker, that operated on top of the graphical user interface of Macintosh computers, the LaserWriter was a key component at the beginning of the desktop publishing revolution.[13][14]
Image | Name | Type | Interface | Engine | PPM | DPI | Introduced | Discontinued | Weight | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LaserWriter | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-CX |
8 | 300 | March 1, 1985 | February 1, 1988 | 77 lbs. | [15] | |
LaserWriter Plus | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-CX |
8 | 300 | January 1, 1986 | February 1, 1988 | 77 lbs. | [16] | |
LaserWriter II SC | QuickDraw laser |
SCSI | Canon LBP-SX |
8 | 300 | January 1, 1988 | July 1, 1990 | 45 lbs. | [17] | |
LaserWriter II NT | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-SX |
8 | 300 | January 1, 1988 | October 1, 1991 | 45 lbs. | [18] | |
LaserWriter II NTX | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-SX |
8 | 300 | January 1, 1988 | October 1, 1991 | 45 lbs. | [19] | |
LaserWriter II f | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-SX |
8 | 300 | October 1, 1991 | May 1, 1993 | 45 lbs. | [20] | |
LaserWriter II g | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk AAUI |
Canon LBP-SX |
8 | 300 | October 1, 1991 | October 1, 1993 | 45 lbs. | [21] | |
Personal LaserWriter SC | QuickDraw laser |
SCSI | Canon LBP-LX |
4 | 300 | June 1, 1990 | September 1, 1993 | 32 lbs. | [22] | |
Personal LaserWriter NT | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk |
Canon LBP-LX |
4 | 300 | July 1, 1990 | May 1, 1993 | 32 lbs. | [23] | |
Personal LaserWriter LS | QuickDraw laser |
serial | Canon LBP-LX |
4 | 300 | March 1, 1991 | May 1, 1993 | 31 lbs. | [24] | |
Personal LaserWriter NTR | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk parallel |
Canon LBP-LX |
4 | 300 | March 1, 1992 | September 1, 1993 | 29.5 lbs. | [25] | |
Personal LaserWriter 300 | QuickDraw laser |
serial | Canon LBP-PX |
4 | 300 | June 1, 1993 | September 1, 1994 | 15.4 lbs. | [26] | |
Personal LaserWriter 320 | PostScript laser |
LocalTalk | Canon LBP-PX |
4 | 300 | October 1, 1993 | September 16, 1995 | 15.4 lbs. | [27] | |
LaserWriter Pro 600 | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk parallel |
Canon LBP-EX |
8 | 600 | January 1, 1993 | October 1, 1993 | 39 lbs. | [28] | |
LaserWriter Pro 630 | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk parallel AAUI |
Canon LBP-EX |
8 | 600 | January 1, 1993 | September 1, 1994 | 39 lbs. | [29] | |
LaserWriter Pro 810 | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk AAUI |
Fuji/Xerox XP 20[30] |
20 | 800 | October 1, 1993 | November 1, 1994 | 81 lbs. | two built-in paper trays[31] | |
LaserWriter Select 300 | QuickDraw laser |
serial | Fuji/Xerox XP 5 (P1) |
5 | 300 | February 1, 1993 | January 3, 1995 | 26 lbs. | [32] | |
LaserWriter Select 310 | PostScript laser |
serial parallel |
Fuji/Xerox XP 5 (P1) |
5 | 300 | February 1, 1993 | January 1, 1994 | 26 lbs. | [33] | |
LaserWriter Select 360 | PostScript laser |
serial LocalTalk parallel |
Fuji/Xerox XP 10 (P1) |
10 | 600 | October 1, 1993 | April 22, 1996 | 29 lbs. | [34] | |
LaserWriter 16/600 PS | PostScript laser |
LocalTalk parallel AAUI |
Canon LBP-EX |
17 | 600 | September 1, 1994 | June 17, 1996 | 40 lbs. | [35] | |
LaserWriter 4/600 | PostScript laser |
LocalTalk | Canon LBP-PX |
4 | 600 | June 1, 1995 | unknown | 15.4 lbs. | [36] | |
LaserWriter 12/640 PS | PostScript laser |
AAUI LocalTalk parallel |
Fuji/Xerox P893 |
12 | 600 | June 17, 1996 | 1997 | 26.5 lbs. | 8 ppm duplex[37] | |
LaserWriter 8500 | PostScript laser |
Ethernet LocalTalk parallel |
Fuji/Xerox P880 |
20 | 600 | August 5, 1997 | January 1999 | 70.4 lbs. | 11x17 paper tray[38] | |
Color LaserWriter 12/600 | PostScript laser |
Ethernet LocalTalk parallel |
Canon LBP-HX |
12 | 600 | June 1, 1995 | October 1, 1996 | 110 lbs. | 3 ppm in color[39] | |
Color LaserWriter 12/660 | PostScript laser |
Ethernet LocalTalk parallel |
Canon LBP-HX |
12 | 600 | October 1, 1996 | 1997 | 110 lbs. | 3 ppm in color[40] |
Inkjet series
editThe StyleWriter was the first of Apple's line of inkjet serial printers, targeted mainly towards consumers. They produced print quality that was better than the dot matrix ImageWriters, and were cheaper than the LaserWriters. All but a few models contained Canon print engines, a few were rebadged Canon printers, while the last few were rebadged HP DeskJet printers.
The Apple Color Printer was the first color inkjet printer sold by Apple. Introduced in 1993 alongside the StyleWriter II, it was a rebadged Canon BJC-820 printer.[41] Its maximum resolution was 360 DPI and connected to the computer via SCSI. Unlike many inkjet printers of the time, the Apple Color Printer did not suffer from print slowdowns caused by slow communication from the computer performing rasterization, since the SCSI bus is relatively fast. The model was discontinued in 1994 when Apple introduced the Color StyleWriter series of printers.[42]
Image | Name | Type | Interface | Engine | PPM | DPI | Introduced | Discontinued | Weight | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
StyleWriter | monochrome thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 0.5 | 360 | March 1, 1991 | January 1, 1993 | 7.5 lbs. | [43] | |
StyleWriter II | monochrome thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 1 | 360 | January 1, 1993 | April 17, 1995 | 6.6 lbs. | [44] | |
Portable StyleWriter | monochrome thermal inkjet |
parallel | Canon | 0.5 | 360 | June 1, 1993 | May 15, 1995 | 4.5 lbs. | Cable adapter allowed connection to serial[45] | |
Color StyleWriter Pro | color thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 2/0.5 | 360 | February 1, 1994 | December 16, 1995 | 11 lbs. | [46] | |
StyleWriter 1200 | monochrome thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 1 | 360 | April 1, 1994 | unknown | 6.6 lbs. | [47] | |
Color StyleWriter 2400 | color thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 3 | 360 | September 1, 1994 | unknown | 7.9 lbs. | LocalTalk option[48] | |
Color StyleWriter 2200 | color thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 3 | 720x360 | June 1, 1995 | unknown | 3.1 lbs. | portable[49] | |
Color StyleWriter 1500 | color thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 3 | 720x360 | February 19, 1996 | unknown | 5.5 lbs. | LocalTalk option, EtherTalk option[50] | |
Color StyleWriter 2500 | color thermal inkjet |
serial | Canon | 3 | 720x360 | February 19, 1996 | unknown | 6.9 lbs. | LocalTalk option, EtherTalk option[51] | |
Color StyleWriter 4100 | color thermal inkjet |
serial LocalTalk |
HP | 5 | 600 | June 16, 1997 | unknown | 11.7 lbs. | [52] | |
Color StyleWriter 4500 | color thermal inkjet |
serial LocalTalk |
HP | 5 | 600 | June 16, 1997 | unknown | 11.7 lbs. | [53] | |
Color StyleWriter 6500 | color thermal inkjet |
serial LocalTalk parallel |
HP | 8/4 | 600 | June 16, 1997 | unknown | 14.3 lbs. | EtherTalk option[54] |
References
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- ^ "StyleWriter 1200". Apple.com. Apple Inc. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ "StyleWriter 2400". Apple.com. Apple Inc. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
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- ^ "Color StyleWriter 1500". Apple.com. Apple Inc. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
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- ^ "Color StyleWriter 4500". Apple.com. Apple Inc. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ "Color StyleWriter 6500". Apple.com. Apple Inc. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
External links
edit- Technical Specifications for Apple Color Printer
- Edwards, Benj (10 December 2009). "A look back at Apple's Printers". Macworld.