What do the "Printer and scanner drivers for Mac" listings actually tell you?

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Level 1

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What do the "Printer and scanner drivers for Mac" listings actually tell you?

I'm not sure what the device listings on the "Printer and scanner drivers for Mac" webpage (link below) mean.

Do they indicate which printers have drivers for the indicated functions -- i.e., 'print' and 'scan' -- from the manufacturers -or- whether Apple's macOS drivers support the indicated functions?

In other words, if the 'S' column for my device isn't check-marked, does that mean that macOS (Mojave in my case) won't support scanning for the device?

The main reason I ask is that there is a printer 'Update' I've been prompted to download, but the webpage link that's supposed to tell me why I need it (or would find it useful) shows nothing at all about the update: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669

Thanks.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201465

Posted on Jul 31, 2020 6:54 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rudegar

Level 10

174,522 points

Jul 31, 2020 7:11 AM in response to dymar

I would say if there is a P it will print if there is a S it will scan and if there is a F it will fax

apple does not make any drivers for any third party printers or hardware in general

if the manufactorer has newer driver that was not submitted to apple to include then you may be able to find newer drivers on their web site

also the page you link to says

This list is no longer updated.

so it could be different now

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,256 points

Jul 31, 2020 7:55 AM in response to dymar

If it has a letter in the column, the Mac should be able to find the driver from Apple's servers when you add the device.

It doesn't mean the manufacturer doesn't have a driver, it just means the manufacturer didn't provide the driver to Apple. Essentially it is a list of "bundled" drivers, but they aren't bundled anymore.

For Scanners, it really means that the Scanner supports Image Capture Architecture (ICA) meaning it will work with Image Capture and other programs that leverage ICA (Preview). If there isn't an S in the Scanner column, you have to contact the manufacturer to see if they have one that will work, or try VueScan.

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Answer 3

dymar Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 4, 2020 5:39 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, what I was most wondering about was whether the lack of an 'S' for a listed device means that none of Apple's methods for achieving faxing (through software) will work.

HP stopped making drivers for my All-In-One a long time ago and Vuescan has no Mac driver for it (Windows yes).

Some people, including a phone rep at AppleCare, have asserted that macOS has its own driverless way of supporting fax capability, but to date I haven't understood what's required to make that work. Or whether it requires newer hardware, which my unit isn't.

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Answer 4

dymar Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 6, 2020 4:39 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, I don't know why I wrote 'fax' and 'faxing' in my last reply when I meant 'scan' and 'scanning' but I assume your reply would have been the same.

Does that mean there's no way I can use my fully functional 'older' device for scanning (i.e., scanning documents & photos to files), and that there's no other route to that than purchasing 'new hardware'?

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,256 points

Aug 6, 2020 6:10 AM in response to dymar

If VueScan and Image Capture do not work, then I would look for another scanner.

If you are getting a prompt to update the driver, maybe that would help if you installed it.

Again, an S missing from the column means that HP didn't provide a driver to Apple to bundle with the OS, and it doesn't support ICA.

The printer may still work, but the Scanning features may not without some software provided by HP.

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Answer 6

dymar Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 7, 2020 4:08 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, HP stopped supporting successor macOS versions some time ago. In effect it chose to stop supporting its own customers' hardware (so no more HP products for me).

That's the crux of the problem. There is no driver to be had from HP.

And VueScan for some reason didn't create an 'alt driver' for the Mac, only for Windows.

I haven't tried Image Capture, which I'm not familiar with. I'll check it out, if you're suggesting that it might work even without an HP 'scan' driver and with non-recent hardware.

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Answer 7

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,256 points

Aug 4, 2020 5:47 PM in response to dymar

You'd need an F for faxing. Printing, Scanning, and I guess faxing is all "driverless" in current macOS. But, the device has to be capable of it. Older devices would not be capable.

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Answer 8

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,256 points

Aug 7, 2020 6:07 AM in response to dymar

If they there isn’t an S in the scan column, it won’t work. If there is, it might work.

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What do the "Printer and scanner drivers for Mac" listings actually tell you?

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