Definitely a major bag of goodies announced by Apple at WWDC today, but one item many expected further info on was not discussed: the ability to finally print from an iPad or iPhone using AirPrint and your existing printer shared by your Mac. A bit surprising that this important feature is still missing in action.
AirPrint was introduced with iOS 4.2 in November 2010, and support for shared printing was supposed to be included in the concurrent release of Mac OS X 10.6.5. However AirPrint support was pulled from the update at the last minute, with Steve Jobs noting via an email to a customer that it was proving more difficult to implement than expected:
“Lots more coming soon. It’s what it takes to make a giant leap to driverless printing, which is huge.
The only AirPrint capable devices available were a few HP printers. Users and pundits moaned, and resigned themselves to wait until a future Mac OS X release.
So its surprising to be here today, with at least 450 new features announced between Lion and iOS 5, yet nary a peep about AirPrint. The list of AirPrint enabled printers is currently at 18, all of which are still made by HP.
That Print button inside iOS apps is mighty tempting. One of the most common questions I get from my clients is “how can I print from my iPad?” My answer has been to wait until Lion and perhaps iOS 5. Now I wonder, why the continued delay?
Adam Rosen is an Apple certified IT consultant specializing in Macintosh systems new and old. He lives in Boston with two cats and too many possessions. In addition to membership in the Cult of Mac, Adam has written for Low End Mac and is curator of the Vintage Mac Museum. He also enjoys a good libation.
21 responses to “Missing In Action: Still No Printing From iPad Using Lion and iOS 5 [WWDC 2011 Reaction]”
Umm.. I have a shitty old printer plugged into my Desktop and just made it a shared printer in the settings. Pretty simple. I’ve been enjoying AirPrint this whole time…
@bccfb651b2cd65f4b2b484b20364af5c:disqus : you can print to your Mac-shared printer from your iPad, with no additional software involved? What Mac OS X version are your running? I can’t do this on my MacBook Pro running 10.6.7 and an older HP printer.
I’m using AirPrint Activator. Works with any printer.
http://netputing.com/airprinta…
I got some really simple add on on my mac that made it work with my canon printer perfectly… i can’t remember what it was called though. sorry
Yeah, looks like 3rd party utilities – on the Mac or iPad – will continue to be the solution for now. Just installed AirPrint on my Mac Pro and it works like a charm with an Epson WiFi printer and my iPad. Thanks for the tip!
I’m running 10.5.8 but can’t seem to get Activator to run my Epson. Is the operating system too old?
Yes, but looks like there’s a beta version with Leopard support: http://netputing.com/airprinta…
I have had this running on my Mac with AirPrint Activator for several months. Works like a charm.
Considering the overwhelming theme of the keynote was keeping information in the cloud, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for sending your information to dead trees.
Well so far the work around is dead for iOS 5 beta 2.
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