A dialog will appear, call the preset Color and check the Preset Available For: Only this printer option. Click Ok to save this preset for the future.
While compatibility has improved in recent years, there are still some printers that don't work well or not at all with Macs, so we've put together a list of the best printers that are fully compatible with macOS. These models work seamlessly straight out of the box, with no need to install any drivers or third-party apps. There are many options, from feature-rich color laser models to simple inkjet printers for occasional use.
Color Printer For Mac
We've tested over 120 printers, and below are our recommendations for the best printers for Mac you can buy. For other options, check out our picks for the best home printers, the best inkjet printers, and the best all-in-one printers.
The best printer for Mac we've tested is the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw, an all-in-one color laser model. It produces amazing quality black and color documents and prints very quickly, up to 29 pages per minute. It supports automatic duplex printing, meaning you don't need to flip the pages manually when printing double-sided sheets. Its large 300-sheet input tray capacity is great for large print jobs, as you won't have to interrupt the printing to refill the paper tray.
As for the scanner, the scan quality is also outstanding, and there's an automatic feeder with single-pass duplex scanning to process multi-page and double-sided documents. It's a little slow, as it only scans up to five pages per minute, although it's still better than scanning each sheet manually. This printer doesn't require much maintenance, as the toner cartridges last a long time. The cartridges are expensive, but since you don't need to replace them often, it ends up being very cost-effective in the long run. Also, the cartridges have the drum built-in, so you don't need to spend extra to replace it.
Like most laser printers, the main downside is that it isn't ideal for photo printing. If you need to print photos, get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 instead, an all-in-one supertank model. It produces incredibly detailed and colorful photos, supports various paper sizes up to 13" x 19", and doesn't cost much to maintain. There are some trade-offs, as it only has a flatbed scanner with no automatic feeder, doesn't print as quickly, and is more expensive. If cost is a concern, you can get the cheaper Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 variant; it gives you the same print quality but only supports paper sizes up to 8.5" x 11".
A quick note about this printer: there are many variants with slightly different features and performance. So, if you want to save money, you can get a variant like the Brother MFC-L2710DW, which lacks duplex scanning and prints a little slower at 32 pages per minute. Some variants come with high-yield and/or super high-yield cartridges that'll last longer, like the Brother MFC-L2750DWXL. You can see all the variants and their differences in the full review.
If you want to save money with a more modest mid-range model, go with the Brother MFC-J4335DW. This inkjet all-in-one has four cartridges that yield over 2000 black and 800 color prints, and the cartridges are relatively inexpensive, meaning you won't have to spend too much on maintenance. It wakes up quickly and gets a single page out in only 11 seconds, prints 17 black or 15 color pages per minute, and supports automatic double-sided printing.
In terms of the print quality, black and color documents look amazing. Photos look detailed but slightly muted due to the printer's narrow color range, and there's some graininess in the pictures, too. You get USB and Wi-Fi connectivity along with Apple AirPrint support, so you don't need to go through the hassle of installing drivers or apps to use the printer. It has an ADF-equipped scanner that scans up to 20 pages per minute; however, it doesn't support duplex scanning, so you'll have to flip the pages manually when scanning double-sided sheets.
For budget-conscious folks, we recommend the Brother MFC-J1205W, an inkjet all-in-one designed for small households or personal use. It feels surprisingly well-built, especially for a printer in this price range. Like our mid-range pick, it also uses four ink cartridges. These cartridges yield around 1100 black and 700 color pages and aren't overly expensive, so your cost per print will remain low over time. There are some compromises, though, like the lack of an automatic feeder and Ethernet connectivity. Its printing speed is also slower at nine black or six color pages per minute, so it isn't the best option for printing long reports or essays. It works with Macs straight out of the box; you don't need any drivers.
If you need a cheap printer that can get the job done for those occasional one-off projects, get the Canon PIXMA MG3620. The build doesn't feel sturdy, and it only has a basic flatbed scanner, but it prints good-quality documents and photos. You still get USB and Wi-Fi connectivity and Apple AirPrint support. It uses two ink cartridges, one black and one tri-color, and yields around 200 black and color prints.
Its low page yield means you'll have to replace the cartridges often, and because it uses a tri-color cartridge, you need to replace the entire cartridge even if one color runs out. Thankfully, the cartridges are cheap, so your maintenance costs will remain low. There are XL cartridges that'll last longer, but they still wouldn't yield as many prints as a model with more cartridges, like our budget pick.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our printer reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no printer is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.
Ever since I bought a konica minolta printer I havent been able to print in color.. I don't know how to change the option to print in grayscale, since the tab is apparently blocked. Can someone help?
You can adjust color settings in the Custom Settings dialog box of the Windows printer driver, or in the Effect dialog of the Mac OS X CUPS printer driver. Please note that this feature is available in the Windows printer driver and the Mac OS X CUPS printer driver, not available in the BR-Script3 printer drivers of Windows and Mac OS X.
I saw your post about how your Mac running 10.10 is unable to print in color to your Envy 4522, and I wanted to reply with my own suggestions. As the test pages print out in color, we know the printer itself is okay!:)
Finally, we looked for a high-end color laser all-in-one for people with more serious small-office or home-office needs. Like the mono MFP, it needed to be fast and flexible, offer great print and scan quality, and have a not completely outrageous price (none of these machines are cheap, but we set the cap at $500).
Filtering through the color laser AIOs from top manufacturers, we arrived at four models that checked off all our requirements: the Brother MFC-9340CDW, the Canon Color ImageClass MF644Cdw and Color ImageClass MF743Cdw, and the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw, the upgrade pick in our all-in-one printer guide.
Experimenting with quality settings also helped us get familiar with the print menus. We spent time in the standard print box as well as in the more arcane Web-based control panels that most printers employ for more technical adjustments.
To test printing speed, we ran off four copies of the four-page ISO document in both duplex (two-sided) and simplex (one-sided) modes. We timed the whole process, from our hitting the print button to the last sheet coming out of the feeder, so it included any warm-up time required from a cold start. We also tried duplex printing at the highest quality setting for each printer. These tests gave us a feel not only for how fast a printer would be able to spit out a 10-page book report, but also whether the differences between the models were substantial enough to make a difference in day-to-day life.
Once the M255dw is connected to your network, you can grab the appropriate drivers and software for your Mac or Windows PC by heading to 123.hp.com/laserjet and clicking Download. That gives you the HP Easy Start installer, which walks you through getting the printer connected, registered, and working with your computer. This process should take only a few minutes, and connecting via a smartphone or tablet is even quicker: You can download the HP Smart app (Android or iOS) and add the printer with just a couple of taps.
Right out of the box, the HL-L2350DW produced good-looking text in our tests. Tax forms and other documents with tiny fonts (all the way down to 2 points) were perfectly readable, and larger headers came out with crisp edges and dark centers. All in all, this printer should be more than adequate for printing text-heavy documents. Test graphics and photos, on the other hand, were merely mediocre at default settings, as some light banding was visible in solid-color areas, and graphics appeared a little grainy. The output is good enough for personal use or internal business documents, and you can improve it with adjustments to toner density and resolution settings (at the expense of toner longevity) if you need to hand out documents to clients.
Several manufacturers offer buy-back programs for their branded products, but guidelines can often vary by state. For example, both Brother and Canon provide a list of state laws regarding how to handle e-waste and printer rebates.
We tested the Brother HL-L3270CDW and found that it came up short against our top pick due to its lack of single-pass duplex printing, a bypass printing slot for odd-size media, and a USB port for printing from a thumb drive. Print quality was mediocre overall, and colors had a distinctly greenish hue. 2ff7e9595c
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