68kMLA Classic Interface
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| Click here to select a new forum. | | Will this printer work with modern and old macs? | Posted by: Hopfenholz on 2021-01-21 12:12:33
Hi everyone
I need a new colour laser printer. My IT guy is recommending the following - will this work with system 6/7 Macs on the same network running the LaserWriter driver? Not easy to tell
Brother MFC-L8690CDW
| Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2021-01-21 13:38:20
Supports PostScript, but lacks AppleTalk support (support was dropped in new printers awhile back). No it will not work out of the box.
| Posted by: trag on 2021-01-21 18:54:41
Please keep us posted. If you find a current model printer that supports AppleTalk (over Ethernet) many of us would like to hear about it.
Printer companies used to list the protocols supported (TCP/IP, SPX/IPX, AppleTalk, etc.) as one of the categories in their specifications, but now days they just say, "Works with Windows 10, Mac OS 10.9, etc., which is fairly useless.
| Posted by: Cory5412 on 2021-01-22 19:46:52
Some more notes from a couple people on this topic and what works with system 7 here:
Which printer should I get? - Peripherals - 68kMLA Forums
To the best of my knowledge, nothing brand new still supports AppleTalk, you're looking at printers roughly a decade old to get AppleTalk, and it was about a decade out of use then.
If your workplace is buying this printer for you, they will probably not want to buy a 10-15 year old printer, but if they have an HP LaserJet or other similar market midrange/workgroup-aimed network laser from the early-mid 2000s, there's a moderate chance it'll work. Datasheets on those, as mentioned, usually specify what protocols they speak, because they often spoke more than one and it was a printer-is-doing-the-thinking protocols, versus what started happening in the second half of the 2000s where the least expensive laser printers moved more toward host-based printing where the computer does the thinking.
| Posted by: Hopfenholz on 2021-01-26 11:06:26
Thanks to everyone for their contributions on this. I got the Brother, and will have to figure out how to print from classic Macs, for now I will stick with PDF > Sneakernet usb stick into the printer
| Posted by: MrFahrenheit on 2021-01-26 14:19:12
Thanks to everyone for their contributions on this. I got the Brother, and will have to figure out how to print from classic Macs, for now I will stick with PDF > Sneakernet usb stick into the printer On the forum post above mentioned by Cory there’s a link to an item on Amazon that supports AppleTalk and plugs into the USB port of a printer. You might be able to give that a shot.
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