Level 1

32 points

Latest Brother Control Center and Catalina - Brother not supporting Apple OS

Maybe you saw this original post form March on this topic where the "helpful" response was one pointing you to the Brother site that suggested you search for the the Mac driver - all that gets you is the stone age v2 Mac Control Center - 1 32-bit incompatible application

So if you are unlucky enough to own a Brother Printer you are faced with a very poor choice

Don't upgrade to Mojave

Find your Brother Printer/scanner functionality reduced

It seems pretty clear to me that the Brother strategy is to ignore Apple development and support and focus on Windows. The control center is now in v4 for windows but remained at v2 for Mac for the past several years. V2 control center is a 32-bit application and we have been receiving warnings from Apple for an extended period of time

Brother appears to have chosen to ignore them and has little interest in updating its drivers and software for their printers for Apple Cataline OS an 64-bit.

Their response has remained the same for a long time - you can find it here. Try this "new" application in the apple store "iPrint&Scan". But if you are like me you will find the list of compatible printers short and neither of mine featured

Or use the Apple Image Capture Utility - in other words we can't be bothered to support and write software for Mac users use the built in clunky tool that comes with Apple OS

I welcome being proved wrong but that's my exploration and at this point my relationship with Brother is now limited to the duration these printers survive and the consumables are used up at which point they will be retired and replaced with another brand that is interested in supporting apple OS for their printers

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 6:21 AM

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

73,254 points

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 8:19 AM

There is a distinction. The "Brother Control Center" appears to be 32-bit, but the printer drivers themselves work just fine.

You do not need to have this application installed in order to use their printers. I have two Brother printers and haven't had this application on any of my macs for years.

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49 replies

nvt Author

Level 1

32 points

Jan 15, 2020 12:01 PM in response to dan902

Thanks for sharing this suggestion

This is the app for the Mac

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/brother-scannerapp/id912659472?mt=12

Sadly - as several of the reviewers not it lacks the basic functionality that was in the original Brother scanner application

Specifically - you can't name the file you scan and no preview function. It basically performs the same function as the built into preview and other mac based apps

Oct 19, 2019 2:24 AM in response to antilagman

Preview supports your scanner and is free... and already in your mac.

nvt Author

Level 1

32 points

Oct 8, 2019 11:08 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks - I understand the distinction and yes that's true, but the brother Control center is the utility for scanning that came with the printers.

Yes you can use native scanning applications including Apple's clunky Image capture but my point still stands. Mac users left out in the cold with Brother Printers and the applications that come with these devices to make them useful

Nov 13, 2019 12:18 AM in response to Osl2060

You are right, but, suppose your printer is not located in your office but in another room. If you want to scan, let us say, 30 documents, you will have to go 30 times from your desk to your printer, as you can no longer initiate scanning from the scanner itself, you have to go each time back to your PC!

That is because Brother is unable or unwilling to adapt their software to Catalina.

This is ridiculous, unprofessionnal. Perhaps they can make sticking machines, for printers, there is still a long way to go!

Oct 19, 2019 1:51 AM in response to antilagman

or you can just use image capture which is already installed on your mac on

maczek

Level 1

8 points

Nov 15, 2019 11:39 AM in response to VikingOSX

Can you trigger scanning directly from the printer? Are files saved automatically to your computer using VueScan?

Dec 8, 2019 5:26 AM in response to nvt

Thanks. this verifies what I have been suspecting. Looks like I'm returning the brother printer. Too bad, It IS a nice printer and good price. Now the question is what to buy. Do Epsons work well?

nvt Author

Level 1

32 points

Oct 8, 2019 11:14 AM in response to VikingOSX

I understand this thanks. Catalina is pure 64 bit and migrating to that platform leaves any brother printer user that relies on the Control Center without that utility and having to find workarounds

I'm not looking for indefinite support but these are not old printers. I retired 2 printers recently and replaced them with these one for driver issues and the other bricked thanks to a firmware debacle.

Since there is no Life Expectancy posted on the box i reasonably expect the device to last at least as long as my other hardware in this case a Mid 2015 MBP which is working and could upgrade to Catalina were it not for lost functionality from incompatible applications

Oct 11, 2019 2:25 AM in response to nvt

Have the same problem.

Amateurs behaviour of Brother. Because I bought the machine only 6 months ago and the user manual says that initiating an scanning from the scanner is possible, I am considering a law pursuit, to obtain a buyback.

One thing is sure: Do'nt buy Brother if you work with a Mac!

Fly_yyz

Level 1

8 points

Nov 1, 2019 5:58 PM in response to mpalmer11

"Printing - the printer is not responding".

Updated my Mac with the latest Brother drivers (supposedly for 10.15 Catalina)... Reboot. 'Printing - the printer is not responding'

Simply will no longer recognize my wireless Brother MFC- J491 after upgrade to Catalina.

maczek

Level 1

8 points

Nov 3, 2019 9:37 AM in response to nvt

I'm facing the same issue with my Brother DCP J-105. The Brother website says to use Print & Scan, they claim my printer is supported. However when I open the Print & Scan app I got "Device Not Supported". I can't use my favourite feature which was "Scan to file.." :( What a crap....

maczek

Level 1

8 points

Nov 15, 2019 11:37 AM in response to Osl2060

How can I do this in VueScan 9.7? I can't find such option in settings and when I go to my scanner, push Scan and select "Scan to file" I can't see my computer on the scanner's LCD. How to create a host in VueScan that will be visible by my printer over network?

Dec 5, 2019 6:56 AM in response to nvt

I agree on multiple accounts: clunky is a nice way to describe Image Capture. The features we came to enjoy in Control Center are now replaced with multiple steps; scan to file, rename, move to appropriate location etc. My thought is that Apple/MAC is dumbing-down process, or addressing "problems" that don't exist.

The 32/64bit crossover shouldn't have caught Brother by surprise though. The writing on the wall has been there, for both users and providers (of software) for quite some time. Here's hoping Brother will play catch-up to us MAC users. #choppedliver

Dec 8, 2019 5:28 AM in response to Osl2060

Yes, I have been using this function for a few days, but problem I'm having is it scans each page of a document as a separate file, even though I have document feeder option checked. I have been through calls with brother and apple to no avail

Dec 8, 2019 5:33 AM in response to Michel Lebacq

I agree. This other issue I have had, while one the phone trying to trouble shoot this with Apple is that the printer seems to scan the document, says it is scanning, but then it is not saved anywhere. This was done from systems preferences. When I use image capture, I am only able to scan one page per document

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Latest Brother Control Center and Catalina - Brother not supporting Apple OS