List of Apple printers

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

Apple's first printer release 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	proprietary DB-9	N/A	March 1980	1982	Interface pinout[3]
	Dot Matrix Printer	Dot Matrix	parallel	N/A	October 1982	1984	9-pin[4][5]
	Daisy Wheel Printer	Daisy Wheel	serial DB-25	N/A	January 1983	unknown	Offers graphics[4][6][7]
	Color Plotter	Plotter	serial	N/A	1983	unknown	[8]
	Scribe	Thermal	serial	144	1984	unknown	Reviewed[9]

Dot-matrix series

Image	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

The 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 LS	QuickDraw laser	serial	Canon LBP-LX	4	300	March 1, 1991	May 1, 1993	31 lbs.	[23]
	Personal LaserWriter NT	PostScript laser	serial LocalTalk	Canon LBP-LX	4	300	July 1, 1991	n/a	32 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	n/a	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	n/a	40 lbs.	[35]
	LaserWriter 4/600	PostScript laser	LocalTalk	Canon LBP-PX	4	600	June 1, 1995	n/a	15.4 lbs.	[36]
	LaserWriter 12/640 PS	PostScript laser	AAUI LocalTalk parallel	Fuji/Xerox	12	600	May 1, 1996	n/a	26.5 lbs.	[37]
	LaserWriter 8500	PostScript laser	Ethernet LocalTalk parallel	Fuji/Xerox	20	600	August 5, 1997	n/a	70.4 lbs.	11x17 paper tray[38]
	Color LaserWriter 12/600	PostScript laser	Ethernet LocalTalk parallel	Canon	12	600	June 1, 1995	n/a	110 lbs.	3 ppm in color[39]
	Color LaserWriter 12/660	PostScript laser	Ethernet LocalTalk parallel	Canon	12	600	October 1, 1996	n/a	110 lbs.	3 ppm in color[40]

Inkjet series

The 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	n/a	6.6 lbs.	[47]
	Color StyleWriter 2400	color thermal inkjet	serial	Canon	3	360	September 1, 1994	n/a	7.9 lbs.	LocalTalk option[48]
	Color StyleWriter 2200	color thermal inkjet	serial	Canon	3	720x360	June 1, 1995	n/a	3.1 lbs.	portable[49]
	Color StyleWriter 1500	color thermal inkjet	serial	Canon	3	720x360	February 19, 1996	n/a	5.5 lbs.	LocalTalk option, EtherTalk option[50]
	Color StyleWriter 2500	color thermal inkjet	serial	Canon	3	720x360	February 19, 1996	n/a	6.9 lbs.	LocalTalk option, EtherTalk option[51]
	Color StyleWriter 4100	color thermal inkjet	serial LocalTalk	HP	5	600	June 16, 1997	n/a	11.7 lbs.	[52]
	Color StyleWriter 4500	color thermal inkjet	serial LocalTalk	HP	5	600	June 16, 1997	n/a	11.7 lbs.	[53]
	Color StyleWriter 6500	color thermal inkjet	serial LocalTalk parallel	HP	8/4	600	June 16, 1997	n/a	14.3 lbs.	EtherTalk option[54]

References

1. Weyhrich, Steven (December 31, 1991). "Chapter 13: Peripherals, cont.". Apple II History. Creative Commons license. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
2. Edwards, Benj (December 10, 2009). "Apple Silentype (1980)". Macworld. IDG. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
3. "Silentype: Pinouts". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 12, 1994. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
4. "Gutenberg would be proud.". Inside Apple. BYTE Magazine. 1 (2). 1983. Retrieved August 20, 2015. Published inside front cover of BYTE, May 1983 (BYTE vol. 8 no. 5)
5. "Apple Dot Matrix Printer". Apple II Scans. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
6. "Apple Daisy Wheel Printer". Apple II Scans. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
7. "Apple adds a whole new cast of characters.". Inside Apple. InfoWorld. 1 (1). 1983. Retrieved August 20, 2015. Published p. 13 of InfoWorld, 11 Oct 1982 (InfoWorld vol. 4 no. 40)
8. "Now Apple plots color.". Inside Apple. InfoWorld. 1 (3). 1983. Retrieved August 20, 2015. Published pp. 28–29 of InfoWorld, 14 Nov 1983 (InfoWorld vol. 5 no. 46)
9. Green, Doug; Green, Denise (17 December 1984). "Apple Scribe Printer: Low-budget thermal printer has print, ribbon problems". InfoWorld. 6 (51): 55–56. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
10. "ImageWriter". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
11. "ImageWriter II". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
12. "ImageWriter LQ". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
13. H. A. Tucker: Desktop Publishing. In: Maurice M. de Ruiter: Advances in Computer Graphics III. Springer, 1988, ISBN 3-540-18788-X, P. 296.
14. Michael B. Spring: Electronic printing and publishing: the document processing revolution. CRC Press, 1991, ISBN 0-8247-8544-4, Page 46.
15. "LaserWriter". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
16. "LaserWriter Plus". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
17. "LaserWriter II SC". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
18. "LaserWriter II NT". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
19. "LaserWriter II NTX". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
20. "LaserWriter II f". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
21. "LaserWriter II g". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
22. "Personal LaserWriter SC". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
23. "Personal LaserWriter LS". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
24. "Personal LaserWriter NT". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
25. "Personal LaserWriter NTR". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
26. "Personal LaserWriter 300". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
27. "Personal LaserWriter 320". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
28. "LaserWriter Pro 600". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
29. "LaserWriter Pro 630". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
30. "LaserWriter Pro 810: Questions and Answers". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. November 21, 1995. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
31. "LaserWriter Pro 810". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
32. "LaserWriter Select 300". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
33. "LaserWriter Select 310". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
34. "LaserWriter Select 360". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
35. "LaserWriter 16/600 PS". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
36. "LaserWriter 4/600 PS". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
37. "LaserWriter 12/640 PS". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
38. "LaserWriter 8500". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
39. "Color LaserWriter 12/600". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
40. "Color LaserWriter 12/660". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
41. "Why The Lame Apple Color Printer?". Adam Engst. TidBITS. February 1, 1993. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
42. "Apple Color Printer". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
43. "StyleWriter". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
44. "StyleWriter II". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
45. "Portable StyleWriter". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
46. "Color StyleWriter Pro". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
47. "StyleWriter 1200". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
48. "StyleWriter 2400". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
49. "Color StyleWriter 2200". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
50. "Color StyleWriter 1500". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
51. "Color StyleWriter 2500". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
52. "Color StyleWriter 4100". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
53. "Color StyleWriter 4500". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
54. "Color StyleWriter 6500". Apple.com. Apple, Inc. October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2011.

External links

• Technical Specifications for Apple Color Printer
• Benj Edwards "A look back at Apple's Printers "Macworld, Dec 10, 2009