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Douglas Aitken
User level: Level 1 (9 points)

Brother printer not printing on new iMac; do I need a driver?

Currently restoring my data from a new iMac as old one would not transfer data. Trying to add my Brother printer to the computer. Added it but it would not print. My old printer is somehow in the system but not listed as a printer I can delete. Would I need to download a printer driver from Brother to my new computer? Thanks


Posted on Sep 21, 2026 7:46 AM

8 replies

den.thed
User level: Level 10 (99,154 points)

Sep 21, 2026 8:01 AM in response to Douglas Aitken

What model is the Brother Printer...?


You do not need drivers if the Brother Printer is AirPrint compatible.

About AirPrint - Apple Support


Make sure that the printer is connected to your local Wi-Network and add it to the new iMac.

Add a printer to your printer list so you can use it on Mac - Apple Support


If the Printer is not working on the first go around, try Removing and re-Adding it to the new iMac.

Reset the printing system on your Mac to solve a problem - Apple Support


John Galt
User level: Level 10 (162,806 points)

Sep 21, 2026 9:49 AM in response to Douglas Aitken

Do you have any other printers installed on that Mac? The reason for asking is that it may be easiest to simply reset the printing system on your Mac according to Reset the printing system on your Mac to solve a problem - Apple Support.


Do not do that if you have other printers installed, because resetting the printing system will remove all of them.


Then, add the printer again as an AirPrint printer as den.thed explained. You must explicitly choose AirPrint.

John Galt
User level: Level 10 (162,806 points)

Sep 21, 2026 7:56 AM in response to Douglas Aitken

What model Brother printer please? The exact model designation is required.

kaz-k
User level: Level 9 (53,902 points)

Sep 21, 2026 7:57 AM in response to Douglas Aitken

Hi,

I assume you need to install the driver on new iMac.

Also you need to install Rosetta2 on new iMac.


Allan Jones
User level: Level 10 (85,896 points)

Sep 23, 2026 12:07 PM in response to Douglas Aitken

We have an HL-L2370DW from the same seires and it works without issues on our Macs running 27 as well as two iPads and two iPhones running 27. We made no adjustment to any of the devcie or the printer. It just worked.


See the follow-up post from user "Bench Made" that starts with "Good News" in this similar thread in the Golden Gate OS forums:


MAC OS 27 reports software not compatible… - Apple Community


That person got it to work using the printer's control panel.


Douglas Aitken Author
User level: Level 1 (9 points)

Sep 21, 2026 8:32 AM in response to John Galt

HL-L2350DW. I did get it installed but it would not print anything. So I deleted it and was gonna re install but now I cannot get rid of an old printer as it shows up on the "add" a printer sheet, but not where it is listed as a printer option where I can delete it. It is somehow blocking me from adding the Brother. Strange, as I was successful the first time.

Douglas Aitken Author
User level: Level 1 (9 points)

Sep 23, 2026 12:42 PM in response to Douglas Aitken

I had to leave home yesterday for two weeks. At the time I left my restore was only 30% complete from online. I did do a complete restore of the printing system and the problem still remained. I will pick up this problem again once I get home and hopefully I see 100% restore. Thank you everyone for your assistance.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256361977