lkrupp wrote:
Trying to understand here. Printer manufacturers are supposed to supply Apple with drivers which Apple adds to macOS.
Printer manufacturers don’t supply Apple with drivers for inclusion into macOS. Not any more.
The printer manufacturers can either provide AirPort or IPP/IPPS support, and Apple provides the drivers, or the printer manufacturers can provide their own driver kits, either via the app store, or vendor download.
When adding a printer you are not supposed to have to download and install a driver, it’s already there (as Apple indicates in its response to you). For me personally I have never downloaded a driver from a manufacturer. I add the printer by selecting it from a list provided by the macOS print system. I have an Epson WF-2860
Epson Workforce WF-2860 has AirPrint support: https://files.support.epson.com/docid/cpd5/cpd54980.pdf
I haven’t looked to see if it has a driver kit.
and an ancient HP 1022 LaserJet that have continued to work through numerous updates of macOS.
That printer is seemingly not AirPrint, or IPP/IPPS.
HP has mostly been loading drivers using the HP app (various names) from the app store, or using a driver download kit. The HP kits load all sorts of stuff, based on what gets shown by Etrecheck reports.
Apple CUPS has some older drivers and printer profiles (PPD files) some very old printers built in. With newer printers, those are either AirPort or IPP/IPPS support, provide (scrounge) PPD files, or have a vendor driver kit or vendor app.
(Apple CUPS info via IBM RedHat)
Did you download a driver only after trying and failing to add the printer using Apple’s supply or did you download and install right away.
Not suggesting anything or arguing with your process. Just trying to understand why you chose to download the drivers you did.
If y’all decide to replace this vendor-deprecated printer (how long has this thread been going? how much is your time and focus worth? Sunk cost fallacy?), look for a replacement with AirPrint support. For Mac, AirPrint or maybe with IPP/IPPS.
Background on that choice: Which Printer Should I Buy? - Apple Community
Why look at the printer specs?
Most Brother multi-function printers have a pile of widely-supported printing connections including AirPrint and IPP/IPPS.
More than a few other printer vendors use host-based / driver-based rendering for their inexpensive printers, which means you need those drivers, as the printer is as cheap as possible and all the interpretation and all the rendering happens in the host drivers, and the whole thing then gets shipped over to the printer.
Microsoft calls this host-based (client-based) rendering support various names including UniDrv, GDI, and GDI+. (Details)
When (not if) these vendor-provided drivers eventually go unavailable, the printer is a brick. which is seemingly where these printers are.
This is why buying a printer with (for Mac, iPhone, iPad) AirPrint or (for Mac) IPP/IPPS support is helpful.
Microsoft Windows has lately been preferring IPP/IPPS printers too, but there are a lot of printers with host-based (UniDrv / GDI / GDI+) rendering and driver dependencies, and that’s not going to change any time soon.
