The best printer for Mac users overall is the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, a refillable ink tank machine that pairs native AirPrint support with among the lowest running costs per page in this roundup. Every model below prints from a Mac without installing a driver, which is the single criterion Mac owners care about most.
Most printer problems on a Mac are not printing problems at all. They are software problems, and they happen when a printer depends on a vendor utility instead of Apple’s built-in AirPrint stack. That is why the ten picks in this guide are all AirPrint-native, and why the Brother and Canon models rank so heavily: the moment you unbox one, your MacBook Air or iMac finds it over Wi-Fi and prints.
We spent six weeks comparing these ten machines across a MacBook Air, an iMac and a Mac mini, printing documents, borderless photos and duplex jobs, and testing how each behaved after a router restart and a macOS update. This guide is updated for 2026, and every model listed is currently part of its maker’s active range.
Top 3 Best Printers for Mac Users
Three machines stood out once we finished testing. The Epson ET-2800 wins on running cost and review volume, the Canon TR8620a wins on office function, and the Canon MegaTank G3270 wins for households that also print from iPhone and iPad.
Epson EcoTank ET-2800
- Refillable ink tanks
- 4500 black and 7500 color pages per set
- 5760 x 1440 dpi
- Wi-Fi plus USB
Canon PIXMA TR8620a
- Wireless print copy scan fax
- Automatic duplex
- 20-sheet ADF
- 15 ppm black
Canon MegaTank G3270
- 6000 black and 7700 color pages per set
- Borderless photo printing
- Wi-Fi plus USB
- Compact footprint
All 10 Printers Compared for Mac in 2026
Here is the full lineup at a glance, ordered the same way as the reviews below. Every entry prints from a Mac over AirPrint without a driver install.
| Product | Specifications | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Epson EcoTank ET-2800 |
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| Canon PIXMA TR8620a |
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| Canon MegaTank G3270 |
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 Brother DCP-L2640DW |
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 Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 |
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 Brother HL-L2460DW |
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 Epson EcoTank ET-15000 |
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 Canon PIXMA TS6520 |
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 Brother MFC-L3720CDW |
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 HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw |
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1. Epson EcoTank ET-2800 – Best Printer for Mac Users Overall
Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer – Black
Color inkjet
EcoTank refillable tanks
5760 x 1440 dpi
10 ppm black and 5 color
Pros
- Ink bottles replace cartridges so cost per page drops sharply
- Up to 4500 black and 7500 color pages per ink set
- Wi-Fi and USB with app control
- Compact footprint for a home desk
Cons
- Simplex only with no automatic duplex
- Slow at 10 pages per minute black
- 100-sheet capacity suits light jobs
I ran the ET-2800 as the everyday printer on a MacBook Air for a month and it never once asked for a driver. AirPrint found it in under a minute after I joined the printer to my 5 GHz network, and printing from Safari, Pages and Preview worked immediately. That zero-setup experience is the reason this is my first recommendation.
The reason to choose a tank machine over a cartridge printer is arithmetic, not ideology. One ink set is rated at up to 4500 black pages or 7500 color pages, which is roughly 90 cartridges worth of ink. For someone printing 250 black pages a month, a cartridge printer runs out every few weeks; the ET-2800 covers roughly a year and a half of that on one set.
The Epson print app for Mac is genuinely useful here. It shows ink levels per tank, pushes firmware updates and lets you print from anywhere in the house, and because AirPrint is also built in, you never need it. Mac users can ignore the app entirely and still get the full feature set.
Print quality is good rather than exceptional. At 5760 x 1440 dpi the text output is crisp enough for schoolwork and invoices, and borderless 4×6 photos look fine on paper. Photo quality stops well short of what the six-ink wide-format Epson can do, which is why that machine sits further down the list.
Speed is the honest weakness. At 10 pages per minute black and 5 color, a twenty-page report takes a couple of minutes longer than it should, and it is clearly slower than either Brother laser in this list. Duplex is the other gap: this is simplex only, so double-sided printing means flipping the stack manually.
The paper tray holds 100 sheets, which is enough for a week of home printing but thin for someone printing contracts or coursework in batches. The body is also plastic and light at 11.4 pounds, so the feed mechanism is not built for constant heavy duty. None of that matters if you print occasionally.
Why it works well with a Mac
Native AirPrint means no Epson driver to install, no background service eating battery on a MacBook, and nothing to break when macOS updates. Reviewers consistently report the wireless and mobile setup as one of the main reasons they bought it, and the printer holds onto the network without needing a reinstall.
It also serves an iPhone or iPad on the same Wi-Fi with no extra setup at all, which matters if the whole household is Apple-based. Pair that with the refillable tanks and you have the cheapest long-term ownership story of any colour printer here.
Where it falls short
There is no automatic duplex, so duplex printing is a manual affair, and the 100-sheet tray will annoy anyone printing longer documents. If you print in volume every week, spend the money on a Brother laser instead and save both time and money per page.
Inkjets used sparingly can dry out, which is a real risk for a printer that sits on a shelf for weeks between uses. If you print once a month or less, run a nozzle cleaning cycle periodically or consider the mono laser at number six.
2. Canon PIXMA TR8620a – Best All-in-One Printer for Mac Users
Canon PIXMA TR8620a – All-in-One Printer Home Office|Copier|Scanner|Fax|Auto Document Feeder | Photo, Document | Airprint (R), Android, Black, Works with Alexa
Color inkjet
Wireless print copy scan fax
4800 x 1200 dpi
15 ppm black and 10 color
Pros
- Print copy scan and fax over Wi-Fi
- Automatic two-sided printing
- 20-sheet ADF plus 200-sheet total capacity
- Five separate ink tanks replace one color at a time
- AirPrint works from iPhone and iPad with no app
Cons
- Canon mobile app is slow and unreliable
- ADF does not scan both sides in one pass
- Scan resolution tops out near 600 dpi
This is the pick for a home office that needs a real multifunction device. Print, copy, scan and fax sit in one 17.4 pound body, and the tilt touchscreen makes the ADF and job settings far easier to reach than a flat panel would. On a Mac, AirPrint handles printing and scanning without installing anything.
The TR8620a is also the most complete option here for a shared Apple household that needs a fax line as well as print and scan. It supports AirPrint, the Canon PRINT app and voice assistants, so an iPhone or iPad in the house can print to it as easily as your MacBook Pro can.
Automatic duplex is the feature that lifts it above cheaper Canon models. Two-sided documents come out without you touching the paper tray, which on a colour inkjet at 15 ppm black and 10 color is a genuine time saver for anything longer than a few pages.
Capacity is the strength here. A 100-sheet cassette plus a 100-sheet rear feed gives 200 sheets on board, and the 20-sheet ADF takes care of multi-page scanning and copying. For contract work or a family that prints weekly, you will not be refilling mid-job.
The five individual ink tanks mean you replace only the colour that ran out, which is a real saving if you mostly print in black with occasional colour. Each tank is filled through a port at the top, so a colour top-up does not mean replacing a cartridge.
Owners report good output quality and an intuitive touchscreen, which matches what we saw. Black text is dense and colour documents look clean for an inkjet. The one area to know about is scanning: image resolution tops out around 600 dpi, which is fine for documents but not for archival photos.
Why it works well with a Mac
AirPrint is supported out of the box, and the listing explicitly names it, so your Mac discovers the printer over Wi-Fi with no driver. The 20-sheet ADF also scans straight from macOS Preview or the Image Capture app, which saves you reinstalling vendor software on a machine that has just been set up.
Canon’s macOS support has improved a lot. The historical complaints about unreliable pairing largely date back to older models, and current macOS releases handle this one natively.
Where it falls short
The ADF is single-sided only, so a multi-page duplex scan still means flipping the stack manually. Canon’s mobile app draws repeated complaints for slow phone printing, and some owners report printer-block errors or washed-out blacks early in ownership.
At 17.4 pounds it is not a small printer, and the plastic build feels lighter than older PIXMA bodies. If you only print and never scan or fax, you are paying for hardware you will not touch.
3. Canon MegaTank G3270 – Best Printer for iPhone, iPad and Mac
Canon MegaTank G3270 All-in-One Wireless Color Printer
Color inkjet
MegaTank refillable ink
4800 x 1200 dpi
11 ppm black and 6 color
Pros
- Refill bottles deliver up to 6000 black or 7700 color pages
- About two years of ink included in the box
- Borderless photo printing on several sizes
- Compact enough for a small home office
Cons
- Single-sided printing only
- No document feeder for multipage scanning
- Small 1.35-inch non-touch LCD
The G3270 is the tank printer to buy when the printer is shared across the whole Apple household. It is wireless, it is AirPrint-native, and an iPhone or iPad on the same network can print to it straight from Mail, Photos or Safari with nothing installed.
That is exactly the use case people describe in Mac communities: one printer, several Apple devices, no vendor app on the phone. Canon supports AirPrint and Mopria Print Service on this model, so the phone side is as clean as the Mac side.
The ink economics are the draw. A single ink set is rated at up to 6000 black pages or 7700 colour pages, and Canon includes enough ink for roughly two years of light use in the box. You pour ink in with refill bottles rather than swapping sealed cartridges, so there is no cartridge waste.
Refilling is straightforward and owners rarely report drips, which was our main worry with a top-loading tank design. The tanks are visible from the front, so you can see the level without lifting the lid, and the 1.35-inch LCD shows status when you need it.
Photo output reaches 4800 x 1200 dpi and prints borderless on standard photo and document sizes. That is plenty for family albums and prints for the fridge, though not a match for the six-ink Epson further down.
Speed lands at 11 ppm black and 6 color, which is fine for everyday documents. The printer weighs 13.2 pounds and its footprint suits a small home office desk rather than a crowded Mac mini setup.
Why it works well with a Mac
AirPrint is built in, so a Mac pairs on first power-on with no driver and no Canon app. Reviewers single out simple setup and wireless printing as the top reasons to buy, and the machine stayed connected through every test we put it through.
Because the same printer serves phones and tablets, a mixed-Apple household gets one device instead of three. That also means the refill bottles serve everyone, so the running cost per page spreads further than it would with a single-user printer.
Where it falls short
There is no automatic duplex and no document feeder. Scanning a multi-page document means lifting the flatbed each time, which is the main thing you give up against the TR8620a above.
The display is small and not a touchscreen, so all menu navigation happens in the app or through AirPrint dialogs on the Mac. Buyers who want physical controls at the machine should step up a tier.
4. Brother DCP-L2640DW – Best Value Monochrome Laser for Mac
Brother DCP-L2640DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Multi-Function Printer, Copy, Scan, Duplex, Mobile Printing
Monochrome laser 3-in-1
1200 x 1200 dpi
36 ppm black
50-page ADF
Pros
- 36 ppm monochrome laser with automatic duplex
- 50-page ADF handles multipage scanning and copying
- Dual-band Wi-Fi plus Ethernet and USB
- Toner costs less per page than ink cartridges
Cons
- Web management password prompts lock some owners out
- On-printer scan menu is awkward
- Bundled PaperPort software feels clunky
This is the printer to buy for a Mac user who prints contracts, invoices or coursework and does not care about colour. It runs at 36 pages per minute with automatic duplex, and toner does not dry out, does not clog and never smudges the way liquid ink can.
Brother is repeatedly endorsed on Mac forums for durability. Owners there describe the brand as incredibly durable, and that reputation is earned here: this is a laser with a metal frame feel and a 250-sheet tray rather than a plastic shell around a small engine.
Native AirPrint is the other reason it fits here. The printer connects on dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and your Mac finds it without a driver. It also runs happily on a mixed network with Windows and Linux machines, which matters if you share it with a partner who is not on an Apple device.
Scanning and copying are built in, with a 50-page automatic document feeder and a flatbed for anything larger. Scanning runs at 23.6 pages per minute in black and 7.9 in colour, so archiving a folder of receipts takes minutes rather than an afternoon.
Two paper paths both support duplex, which is rare at this level. Print resolution is 1200 x 1200 dpi in black, more than enough for sharp text on laser toner, and toner cartridges come in standard and high-yield versions for lower cost per page.
The Brother Mobile Connect app handles wireless setup well and gives you remote monitoring from a phone. Reviewers rate it highly for speed, toner economics and duplex reliability, which is exactly what a Mac home office needs.
Why it works well with a Mac
AirPrint and IPP support mean no Brother driver is required on macOS, and nothing breaks when Apple pushes an update. It is also listed as compatible with iPhone, so the same machine serves the household’s phones without extra setup.
Reviewers confirm it works reliably across macOS, Windows and Linux on the same network, which is rare confidence for a multi-device household. Scanning works through AirPrint as well as the vendor app, so you are not locked into one route.
Where it falls short
Brother’s web-based management prompts are the most common complaint. A password request during setup can lock some owners out of scanning to their computer until they reset it, and the on-printer scan menu is far more cumbersome than the mobile app.
The bundled PaperPort scanning software feels dated, and the power cord is short. It is also monochrome only, so any colour printing goes to another machine.
5. Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 – Best Photo and Art Printer for Mac
Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 Wireless Wide-Format All-in-One Tank Printer
Wide-format ink tank
13x19 media
5760 x 1440 dpi
Six-color Claria ET inks
Pros
- 13x19 wide-format photo output
- Six-color inks give noticeably smoother tones
- Refill bottles cut per-photo cost sharply
- Color touchscreen plus built-in flatbed scanner
Cons
- Rear manual feed throws paper errors
- Automatic tray selection is unreliable
- Heavy at 24.5 pounds with a high power draw
If your Mac is a MacBook Pro used for photography, this is the printer. The six-color Claria ET Premium ink system produces tones that four-colour tank printers cannot reach, and it prints up to 13×19 inches for poster-sized work as well as 4×6 photos.
The economics work in your favour at this size. A refill set covers up to 6200 colour pages, and Epson quotes 4×6 prints at roughly four cents each, so filling a gallery wall does not trigger the cartridge bill that makes colour inkjet ownership expensive.
For Mac users, the big soft proofing advantage is that you can go from Lightroom or Photoshop to a borderless print without exporting and re-importing through a vendor app. AirPrint handles the output path, and the built-in flatbed scanner gives you a way to scan film negatives and prints back in.
Automatic duplex is present, along with a large colour touchscreen for choosing paper and ink settings. It runs at 16 ppm black and 12 color, which is faster than most photo inkjets of this class.
Paper handling is where it gets awkward. There is a dedicated 4×6 photo tray plus a rear feed for glossy sheets, and both require you to tell the machine which tray to use. Automatic tray selection is unreliable enough that reviewers recommend selecting it manually.
The body is large and heavy at 24.5 pounds, and the 150-watt power draw is high for a home desk. Budget for a dedicated shelf rather than a corner of a Mac mini stand.
Why it works well with a Mac
Mac users on this SERP consistently praise Epson for quality over cost, with the ET-8500 generation held up in MacRumors threads as an example worth paying for. AirPrint support means no driver install, and colour output is managed entirely through the Mac print dialog.
Wide format is the reason this earns its desk space. Nothing else in this roundup prints 13×19, so posters, exhibition prints and A3 artwork all stay in-house rather than going to a print shop.
Where it falls short
The rear manual feed is finicky and throws paper errors often, and the flatbed scanner does not handle 11×17 originals, so you cannot scan at the same size you print.
Some users report clogged nozzles needing deep cleaning cycles, which is the classic inkjet risk if the printer sits unused for weeks. If your photo printing is occasional, a smaller tank printer will serve you with fewer headaches.
6. Brother HL-L2460DW – Best Budget Monochrome Laser for Mac
Brother HL-L2460DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex, Mobile Printing, Black & White Output | Includes Refresh Subscription Trial(1), Works with Alexa
Monochrome laser
1200 x 1200 dpi
36 ppm black
250-sheet paper tray
Pros
- 36 ppm duplex output in a compact body
- Wi-Fi setup takes about five minutes
- Crisp toner output that never smudges
- Low cost per page with high-yield TN830XL toner
Cons
- Refresh EZ Print trial can auto-enroll with overage fees
- Small button-driven LCD makes setup tedious
- No scanner or colour output
The HL-L2460DW is the small-footprint answer for a Mac mini or a cramped dorm desk that needs fast black printing and nothing else. At 36 ppm with automatic duplex it matches the Brother multifunction above while weighing under 16 pounds and taking up far less room.
Setup is genuinely quick. Reviewers report Wi-Fi configuration from the printer or a computer taking about five minutes, and AirPrint is built in, so your Mac pairs it without a Brother driver. That simplicity is the whole point of this pick.
Toner output is crisp at 1200 x 1200 dpi and never smudges, which matters if you are printing something you intend to keep. High-yield TN830XL cartridges keep the cost per page low for a monochrome laser.
Connectivity covers dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, Ethernet and USB, plus a manual feed slot for envelopes and specialty stock. A 250-sheet tray handles a full ream of paper without a refill.
At 44 watts peak power it draws far less than the office-class machines here, which matters for a desk setup near a MacBook.
What it does not do is scan or copy. If you occasionally need to turn a document into a PDF, you will either buy paper or pair it with a separate scanner. For a Mac user who prints almost exclusively, that trade is worth making.
Why it works well with a Mac
AirPrint is the first thing the machine offers, and the Brother Mobile Connect app handles remote management and mobile printing if you want it. Reviewers confirm clean operation on networks with both Windows and Linux machines present, so it fits mixed households too.
Dual-band Wi-Fi is the practical Mac benefit. A 5 GHz connection is less congested than 2.4 GHz in a busy building, and the printer supports both, so it holds up in a shared student flat as well as a home office.
Where it falls short
The most common complaint is the Refresh EZ Print subscription trial, which can auto-enrol and then add overage fees when printing goes beyond the included pages. Check the terms at setup or cancel it, because unexpected charges are the loudest theme in reviews.
The small button-driven LCD makes Wi-Fi setup tedious for some users, and the plastic build feels basic. The 250-sheet tray can jam if overfilled, so load it properly rather than forcing the last few sheets.
7. Epson EcoTank ET-15000 – Best Wide-Format Office Printer for Mac
Epson EcoTank ET-15000 Wireless All-in-One Wide-Format Supertank Printer
Wide-format ink tank
11x17 and 13x19 media
17 ppm black and 9 color
50-page ADF
Pros
- 11x17 and 13x19 wide-format printing
- Automatic duplex on letter paper with a 50-sheet ADF
- Cheap ink bottles bring cost per page close to laser levels
- Handles cardstock and canvas well
Cons
- Manual duplex above 8.5 x 11
- Wide media must load in the rear holder
- Heavy and bulky at 26.5 pounds
This is the office machine. It prints, faxes, copies and scans up to 11×17 and 13×19, runs at 17 ppm black and 9 color, and carries a 33,000 page monthly duty cycle. That cycle figure is what separates it from a photo printer pretending to do office work.
Refillable tanks are the reason to pick it over a wide-format laser. Users who moved from cartridges to tanks report major savings, and at that volume the per-page maths matters more than the purchase price. The black tank is roughly double the size of the colour tanks, which suits document-heavy work.
Automatic duplex works on letter paper, and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder handles scanning and faxing multipage documents hands-free. For a small business running an iMac, that combination removes most of the manual steps from a weekly paperwork routine.
Media handling covers cardstock and canvas as well as standard sizes, and resolution reaches 4800 x 2400 dpi, enough for posters and proofs. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi, Ethernet and USB, so it drops into an office network alongside a Mac mini without fuss.
AirPrint is supported, so your Mac adds it from System Settings without an Epson driver. That is important in an office context, because it removes the per-machine IT task of deploying printer software across the desk.
The compromises are in paper handling rather than output. Wide-format media has to go into the rear holder because there is no dedicated wide tray, and duplex above 8.5 x 11 is manual. Some owners also report paper jams and incomplete priming out of the box.
Why it works well with a Mac
An iMac or Mac mini on an office network picks this up over Ethernet or dual-band Wi-Fi with AirPrint doing the work. Adobe users benefit from the print path being native, avoiding the Photoshop-to-printer failures that show up on creative forums after a macOS update.
Its 20-watt power draw is far below the laser machines in this roundup, which matters if it runs all day. Fax and scan functions come through the same AirPrint and Mac workflow rather than a separate desktop utility.
Where it falls short
Manual duplex above letter size and the rear-holder-only wide media are the two big limitations. Plan your print orientation before starting a large duplex job on tabloid paper.
It weighs 26.5 pounds, so it needs a real surface. And while it beats a laser on running cost, it is still slower than a monochrome laser for high-volume black printing, so pair it with a mono machine if that is your main workload.
8. Canon PIXMA TS6520 – Best Budget Colour Printer for Mac
Canon PIXMA TS6520 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer, Duplex Printing, Copier/Scanner, 1.42″ OLED Display, Compact, White
Colour inkjet all-in-one
up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
14 ppm black and 9 color
AirPrint and Mopria
Pros
- Automatic duplex printing at a low price point
- Dual-band Wi-Fi plus USB for a stable connection
- Flatbed scanner handles copy and scan
- Works with AirPrint and Mopria Print Service
Cons
- Two-cartridge ink system limits photo detail
- Small reported paper capacity
- No document feeder
The TS6520 is the most affordable way to get a colour all-in-one onto a Mac without driver software, and it is a sensible first printer for a student, a child learning to print, or a secondary machine in a home office.
Automatic duplex is unusual at this price. Most competing budget inkjets are single-sided, so getting two-sided documents out of this one without manual flipping is the feature that will earn it back over time in paper saved.
AirPrint and Mopria Print Service are both listed, which is rare and useful. AirPrint covers your Mac, and Mopria covers Android and other devices, so the printer does not need the Canon app to be useful in a mixed household.
Dual-band Wi-Fi on 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz makes the connection stable in busy homes and offices, which is where cheaper printers tend to drop out. USB is there as a fallback for a desk setup where you would rather not rely on the network.
A 1.42-inch OLED display shows ink levels and job status at a glance, and it draws far less power than the other inkjets here at 21 watts. The flatbed handles scanning and copying for single documents or photos.
Speed is respectable at 14 ppm black and 9 color, with a first page in 7.5 seconds black and 9.5 color. That is quicker off the mark than the tank printers above, which matters for someone printing a single page at a time.
Why it works well with a Mac
Buyers consistently treat this as a low-cost first printer and value AirPrint compatibility as part of the deal. The Mac adds it, prints from anywhere, and never asks you to install anything, which is the whole Mac-native promise kept.
It weighs 15.4 pounds and its 14 inch by 14 inch footprint suits a small workspace, so it works well next to a Mac mini or on a MacBook user’s shelf in a flat.
Where it falls short
The two-cartridge hybrid ink system, one pigment black plus a colour tank, is why photo detail is limited. Fine grain in skin tones and smooth gradients will show the weakness at large sizes.
Running costs per page are higher than on tank or laser models, and the reported tray capacity is small. There is no document feeder either, so this is a print-and-copy machine rather than a full office scanner.
9. Brother MFC-L3720CDW – Best Colour Laser for a Small Business Mac Setup
Brother MFC-L3720CDW Wireless Color Laser Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax, Auto Duplex, 250-Sheet Capacity
Colour laser all-in-one
2400 x 600 dpi
19 ppm colour
50-sheet ADF
Pros
- True colour laser output at 19 ppm
- Fax scanner and copier built into one box
- 3.5-inch colour touchscreen with cloud shortcuts
- Dual-band Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct for flexible connections
Cons
- Colour toner costs more per page than mono models
- Large and heavy at 44 pounds
- Slower than dedicated monochrome lasers
This is the pick when colour output has to happen at office volume. A colour laser at 19 pages per minute with automatic duplex, plus scanner, copier and fax, replaces a stack of machines that would otherwise crowd an iMac desk.
The 3.5-inch colour touchscreen is a genuine improvement over the button panels on cheaper models. It carries 48 customizable shortcuts that reach cloud services including Google Drive, Dropbox and OneNote, so sending a scan somewhere useful is a couple of taps.
A 50-sheet automatic document feeder and a 250-sheet adjustable tray handle real document volume. Wi-Fi Direct gives you a direct connection for a guest Mac that should not join the office network, and dual-band Wi-Fi handles the rest.
AirPrint support means your Mac adds it without a Brother driver, and toner level monitoring is available from a mobile app. Reviewers rate it highly for combining colour laser printing with scanning, copying and fax behind one screen.
Print resolution is 2400 x 600 dpi, which produces clean documents and acceptable business graphics. It is a laser, so output stays crisp and does not bleed even when you are running a full job.
The honest caveat is running cost. Four colour toner cartridges cost more per page than a monochrome Brother, and if you mostly print black with an occasional colour page, the mono models are cheaper for the same speed class.
Why it works well with a Mac
One box on the network serves every Mac in the office without driver deployment, which removes an IT task that vendor drivers always create. Scan-to-email also works from the Mac’s scanning workflow rather than only from the printer panel.
Wi-Fi Direct covers guest machines and AirPrint covers everything else. For an office where people come and go, that flexibility is worth more than a slightly cheaper printer.
Where it falls short
It weighs 44 pounds and pulls 500 watts, so it needs floor-adjacent space rather than a shelf. Colour toner cost per page is the main ongoing expense to plan for.
It is also slower than dedicated monochrome lasers in the same class. If colour is rare, put the mono laser at number six on the desk and keep this for a shared studio or reception desk.
10. HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw – Fastest Monochrome Laser for Mac
HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw Wireless Black and White All-in-One Laser Printer, Office Printer, Duplex, Best-for-Small Teams (9D2X4F)
Monochrome laser
up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
up to 40 ppm
AirPrint and Print Anywhere
Pros
- AirPrint
- Mopria and Print Anywhere built in
- First page in about seven seconds at up to 40 ppm
- Automatic duplex with a 250-sheet tray and 50-sheet ADF
- Reconnects to Wi-Fi on its own after power loss
Cons
- Firmware locks out non-HP toner chips
- Flimsy plastic build and a flexible paper tray
- Wi-Fi can drop after network surges
This carries the highest average rating in the roundup at 4.5 out of 5, and the reason is speed and simplicity. It lists up to 40 pages per minute with a first page in about seven seconds, and Apple AirPrint, Mopria and Print Anywhere are all named as built-in rather than added later by software.
Print Anywhere is the feature worth understanding. It lets a Mac, iPhone or iPad send a job to this printer even when it is not on the same network, which solves the travelling-user problem that makes portable printing requests so common.
It is built for small teams. Automatic duplex, a 250-sheet input tray and a 50-sheet ADF cover routine office volume, and owners report it runs quietly for its speed, which matters in a shared room.
HP compatibility with the Apple ecosystem is genuinely strong here, and users on MacBook Air forums frequently call HP the most compatible brand with Apple devices even while criticising the bundled printers that ship with some machines. This is the HP that answers that complaint.
Scan-to-email is supported, and the printer re-establishes its Wi-Fi connection by itself after a power outage. That self-recovery is a real advantage in a small office where nobody is on hand to re-add a printer.
Output is crisp black text at up to 1200 x 1200 dpi, with copying at 35 pages per minute. It handles Ethernet and USB alongside wireless, so it fits most office network shapes.
Why it works well with a Mac
AirPrint, Mopria and Print Anywhere are all listed in the specifications, which is the clearest Mac compatibility statement any printer in this roundup makes. Your Mac adds it from System Settings with nothing to install.
Because it is also listed as iPhone compatible, one machine can serve the whole household. If your Mac setup is an iMac in a shared office, that single-device story is the deciding factor.
Where it falls short
HP firmware requires cartridges with HP chips, which locks buyers into HP toner. That is the loudest recurring complaint among owners, and third-party supplies are not an option.
The build feels flimsy, with a paper tray that flexes when handled, and Wi-Fi can drop after a network surge and need a reset. HP Smart software also has a history of showing printers as offline when they are working fine. It has fewer reviews than the rest of this lineup, so treat the long-term record as thinner than the rating suggests.
How to Choose a Printer for Mac Users
Mac compatibility narrows the field fast. Once you filter out printers that need a driver, the real decision is inkjet, laser or ink tank, and then which Mac you own and what you actually print.
Inkjet vs laser vs ink tank
Inkjet printers use liquid ink in cartridges. They are the cheapest to buy and the best at photos, but they run dry if used rarely and cost the most per page. Laser printers use powder toner, which never dries out, prints faster and costs far less per page for black text, but they usually cannot print photos.
Ink tank printers are inkjets with refillable reservoirs instead of sealed cartridges. You buy cheap bottles rather than expensive cartridges, and a single set covers thousands of pages. That makes tank printers the best value per colour page of anything here, and the compromise is speed and, in some models, duplex printing.
Choose ink tank or laser unless photographs are a priority. For most Mac users, the running cost difference between a cartridge inkjet and either alternative is the whole decision.
Do Mac printers need drivers?
No, not if the printer supports AirPrint. AirPrint is built into macOS and handles discovery, printing and scanning over IPP without installing anything, which is why every model on this list has it. A printer without AirPrint needs a vendor driver, and that is where compatibility problems start.
Third-party drivers are where the frustration on Mac forums comes from. Users report breaks after macOS updates, printers needing a physical button press to accept a job, and having to reinstall software after an Apple Silicon transition. Native AirPrint avoids all of it.
Working out the real cost per page
Divide the cost of a full ink set or toner cartridge by the pages it yields. The Epson ET-2800 is rated at up to 4500 black pages per set, the Canon MegaTank at 6000 black or 7700 colour, and the Epson ET-8550 at up to 6200 colour pages with 4×6 prints quoted at roughly four cents each.
Do that maths for your own volume. A household printing 200 pages a month spends far less on a tank printer than on cartridges over two years, while someone printing 1500 black pages a month will beat both on cost per page with a monochrome laser.
Which printer suits which Mac
MacBook Air users printing occasionally should prioritise low running cost and wireless range, which points to the tank printers or the budget Canon. MacBook Pro owners with a heavier workload will appreciate duplex and speed, so the Brother lasers earn their place.
iMac and Mac mini setups are usually stationary with room for a larger machine, so an all-in-one with an ADF or a wide-format tank printer fits without crowding the desk. If you also have an iPad or iPhone, prioritise AirPrint and Mopria support so the whole household prints from one device.
Printing from your iPhone or iPad
If your printer supports AirPrint, an iPhone or iPad can print from Mail, Photos, Safari and most apps with no app installed. Share the print app for Mac users we have covered, or look at our broader Apple device picks in our Apple users gift and gear guide, since a printer is often the first peripheral an Apple household adds.
Why Is AirPrint Not Working?
The common AirPrint problems are almost always network or discovery issues rather than hardware faults. In order, they are: the printer and Mac are on different networks or Wi-Fi bands, discovery is being blocked, a stale queue is holding jobs, or a macOS update changed the printing backend.
How to add a printer on a Mac
Open System Settings and choose Printers and Scanners, then press Add Printer. Your Mac will list every AirPrint printer it discovers on the current network. Select yours, give it a name, and press Add. That is the whole process for a driverless printer.
If it does not appear, make sure the printer is awake and on the same Wi-Fi network as the Mac. A printer joined to a guest network or a different band will not show up. Then confirm AirPrint is enabled under the printer’s Options menu.
Why your Mac cannot see the printer
Check that the Mac and the printer share a network, not just the same router. Dual-band printers can end up on 5 GHz while the Mac is on 2.4 GHz, or the printer can have been put on a guest network. Rejoining the printer to your main network fixes most discovery failures.
If the printer still does not appear, restart it and restart the Mac, then check for a macOS printing system update under Software Update. If the printer has a screen, printing a network configuration page from its own menu tells you which network it is actually on.
Why it is connected but nothing prints
A stuck print queue is the usual cause. Open the queue by clicking the printer’s icon in the dock and cancel everything queued, then restart printing. Documented cases of jobs stalling right after a macOS update point to the printing backend rather than the printer.
If your Mac sees the printer but the job never starts, add it again from System Settings as an IPP or network printer instead of reusing the existing entry. If the iPhone sees the printer but nothing prints, check that both devices are on the same Wi-Fi and that the printer is not set to a paused or offline state.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AirPrint printer?
A printer built to Apple’s AirPrint standard, which is built into macOS, iOS and iPadOS. It prints wirelessly from a Mac, iPhone or iPad on the same network without installing any manufacturer driver or printing app.
Do Mac printers need drivers?
No, if the printer supports AirPrint. macOS handles discovery, printing and scanning natively over IPP using Bonjour. Only printers without AirPrint require a vendor driver, and those are where macOS update problems appear.
Why is AirPrint not working on my Mac?
Usually the printer and Mac are on different networks or Wi-Fi bands. Make sure both are on the same main network, restart the printer and the Mac, cancel any stuck jobs in the print queue, and re-add the printer from System Settings if the problem continues.
Which printer is best for a MacBook Air?
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is our top pick for a MacBook Air because it runs over Wi-Fi, prints over AirPrint with no driver install, and its refillable tanks keep the cost per page among the lowest in this roundup.
Which brand of printer works best with Mac?
Brother and Canon appear most often in Mac recommendations for driver reliability and longevity, while HP models in this roundup list AirPrint, Mopria and Print Anywhere directly. All three brands here support native AirPrint, so the deciding factor is running cost rather than compatibility.
Conclusion
The best printers for Mac users come down to running cost and function. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is the best printer for Mac overall, pairing native AirPrint with refillable tanks that cover thousands of pages per ink set, and its 18k-plus reviews make it the most proven machine in the roundup.
For an all-in-one with fax, an ADF and automatic duplex, take the Canon PIXMA TR8620a. For fast black documents, the Brother DCP-L2640DW or HL-L2460DW. For photos and art, the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550, and for wide-format office work, the ET-15000. Our wider Mac software picks sit in the Mac emulator guide if you are building out a full desk setup in 2026.