Top 5 Apple Printers of All Time

Date: February 24, 2010

New York, NY --

A story released on the PC World website listed Apple’s five most important printers of all time. If you are thinking about going out and buying any of these after you read this article, good luck. Apple stopped making printers a long time ago, but that’s another story. Here they are, listed in Top 5 format.

1. Apple LaserWriter 8500
   Released: August 1997
   Type: Laser
   Original Price: $3100
   Why it’s important:
   The Apple LaserWriter 8500 was that last laser printer ever produced by Apple, with production ceasing by 1999. Unfortunately, it may have been doomed from the beginning with the printer business getting more and more competitive. It was in 1997 when Apple began re-evaluating their business and decided that printers no longer needed to be in the mix. The printer itself was definitely built to work hard and was aimed at workgroups with its 600 dpi resolution and 20ppm print speeds (blazing fast at the time).
2. Apple StyleWriter
   Released: March 1991
   Type: Inkjet
   Original Price: $599
   Why it’s important:
   The StyleWriter was produced at a time when the inkjet printer was on the rise and the dot matrix on the decline. It produced fairly exceptional graphics for the time and printed on individual sheets of paper (unlike the connected sheets of dot matrix printers). It is credited as being the first ever Apple inkjet printer (360dpi resolution) and for making printing more affordable to consumers. Its creation marked the beginning of Apple’s quest to make low cost machines more readily available to users over the next six years.
3. Apple Silentype
   Released: March 1980
   Type: Thermal
   Original Price: $595
   Why it’s important:
   The introduction of the Silentype piggybacked on the success that Apple II had begun to establish in the computer world. One of the reasons for the popularity of the Apple II was the introduction of VisiCalc, the first ever PC spreadsheet application. To make the software even better, Apple knew they had to make a printer that would print the sheets it produced. As a thermal printer, the Silentype printed on specially designed paper that would darken when heated. It required less room and was certainly less noisy than its dot matrix counterparts. Apple chose to look outside of its walls for some engineering ideas for the first time during the process to find a printer. The printer they found was almost identical to a model produced by another company, the Trendcom Model 200. The only differences between the two were the SIlentype logo and the custom interface hardware designed in house. This type of manufacturing became standard practice for Apple who would either base their printer off an existing design from companies like HP or Canon, or just re-brand what they found with the Apple name.< /li>
4. Apple ImageWriter II
   Released: September 1985
   Type: Inkjet
   Original Price: $595
   Why it’s important:
   The first ImageWriter machine was introduced in 1984 along with the first of Apple’s “Macintosh” computers. The technology was based off a design by C. Itoh Enterprises and the difference came in Apple’s custom firmware that made “WSIWYG-like” graphical printing possible for the first time. They felt at the time if they didn’t make a suitable printer, who would? The original design lasted for a year and that is where the ImageWriter II came into play. Sturdier and sleeker than its predecessor, it incorporated Apple’s own “ ‘Snow White’ “ design language and represents some of the most extensive Apple engineering of any of its printers. The ImageWriter II existed for 11 years and thus to this point is Apple’s longest-selling product ever.
5. Apple LaserWriter
   Released: March 1985
   Type: Inkjet
   Original Price: $6995
   Why it’s important:
   The LaserWriter is credited as being just the fourth laser printer ever produced, coming after only ones by IBM, Xerox, and HP. What the first three lacked, however, was a GUI-based PC like the Macintosh, so their full potential could not be realized. Also in 1985 Adobe produced PostScript, a page description language that enabled better display of fonts and page layouts at any size. It was a huge boost for the small office environment and its capabilities. Following the release of PageMaker (originally created by Aldus, now owned by Adobe), the desktop publishing resolution had begun. The Apple LaserWriter then could be described at the world’s first PostScript printer. The LaserWriter was another mainstay of Canon’s printer line, sticking around until 1999 when Apple ceased to make printers.

BY ADAM HAIGH, Editor