User level: Level 1 (4 points)I need a new home printer compatible with my MacBook Air. My old HP printer has stopped talking to it. I don't print much so can anyone suggest a suitable budget printer? I’m in the UK.
Posted on Nov 1, 2026 8:38 AM
User level: Level 7 (20,243 points)Nov 1, 2026 3:04 PM in response to KentOldie
KentOldie wrote:
I need a new home printer compatible with my MacBook Air. My old HP printer has stopped talking to it. I don't print much so can anyone suggest a suitable budget printer? I’m in the UK.
MrHoffman wrote:
...budget can mean either cheap to buy and expensive to run, or expensive to buy and cheap to run.
MrHoffman is absolutely correct about "budget" here. I had two inexpensive ink jet printer/scanners (one a Canon, the other an Epson) and they went through ink cartridges rapidly, despite relatively light use. A complete set of ink cartridges with all the colors plus black and photo black costs $50-$100 for such "inexpensive" printers and needed to be purchased at least twice per year. Periodically, the printers have to automatically do maintenance routines, which use up expensive ink. Even worse is when one has to run nozzle cleaning or adjustment tools which use up a lot of ink. In contrast, our newer Epson ET-3950 is a super efficient device, it uses high efficient ink tanks (not cartridges) and I see virtually no decrease in the ink levels after one year. The printer/scanner cost more but in a year has more than made up for that by its super efficient use of ink. So I would recommend "expensive to buy but inexpensive to use" because the ink cartridge costs add up year after year, this is the way to go. Most any new printer/scanner from companies like HP, Epson, Canon, Brother works fine with a Mac. I would select based on features and make sure it uses high efficiency ink tanks. Check to make sure drivers and associated software are available and easy to download from the manufacturer's web site. While many here suggest just using air print and no drivers, I also like to install the drivers and software (in addition to having the air print option) because one gets additional print and scan options with the drivers.
User level: Level 10 (169,253 points)Nov 1, 2026 8:44 AM in response to KentOldie
AirPrint support. You absolutely want AirPrint support.
Other than that, budget can mean either cheap to buy and expensive to run, or expensive to buy and cheap to run.
The decision process and trade-offs: Which Printer Should I Buy? - Apple Community
Pragmatically, I’d look for a Brother laser/LED within your budget, and with AirPrint and IPP/IPPS support.
If you want to discuss the recalcitrant HP printer, which of the zillions of similarly-named models they’ve offered?
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256387023