AirPrint not working after iOS 17 Update

Patrick, excellent post,

The issue is totally an iOS issue and incompatible older printers, you can still print to those older printers from laptops and desktops using IP address printing. (see internet instructions on how to install an IP address printer on your OS device). Apple have removed support for earlier implementations of AirPrint (bonjour). As I understand it, the older printers had an earlier version of AirPrint (Bonjour) 1.2.1 (2003 - 2015) which it seems is no longer supported by Apple. The current version (?) is 3.1.0.1 dated April 2018 as far as I can tell. Printers which support AirPrint (bonjour) 3.1.0.1 should work. My older printer would not update firmware, I can still IP print from MacBook (Sonoma) and Mac mini (Catalina) but I had to use another solution to print from my iPad and iPhone running iOS 17.

As iOS devices rely totally on AirPrint bonjour (you cannot IP print from them natively) you might be able to print using a print manufacture's iOS application, HP and Canon iOS applications will still print as I understand it as they implement a version of IP printing imbedded within the application. (can someone advise on this).

If it truly were a Bonjour compatibility issue, why can I print from literally every other app? It doesn’t make sense at all. I think theres a handoff issue(bug/glitch) between the Photos app and Bonjour. Printer still gets a print command but clearly it’s empty so the printer aborts the process immediately. Another weird thing is I can print from my IPhone 14 Pro Max but not my daughters iPhone 14 Plus, my wife’s iPhone 13 Pro Max, my iPad Pro 12.9 M2, my daughter iPad 8th gen or my wife’s iPad 7th gen all of which are running iOS 17.2 and haven’t printed since iOS 17 RC. Again, we can print through literally any other app with the caveat that HP Smart will not print RAW photos

Brandon, are you saying that you can AirPrint to an older printer from an Apple device running iOS 17? What printer is it and what firmware is it running? What iOS apps can you print with? Sounds like you may have fixed the problem! Tell us how.

If you have just one iOS 17 device, your iPhone 14 Pro, on your network that will AirPrint, it stands to reason all other devices running iOS 17 will print.

Brandon, re your printing images problem, you could connect your iOS 17 device directly to your printer via a cable, you will need a usb c on one end for yr phone or iPad, and square usb printer connection on the other, I just tested this and it enables you to print via the cable from ios 17. This will bypass AirPrint . Not ideal but may help sort out the root cause of your image printing problem. If it prints with a cable it’s either an app issue or AirPrint.

My printer is a geriatric Kyocera 40 ppm duplex and a really don’t want to swap it yet so I have various systems to make it work without AirPrint functional on the printer (AirPrint Bonjour print server being one, IP printing being the other).

Do you consider it a printer problem because the firmware is not compatible any longer with iOS 17? It seems strange that a change in the Bonjour version in iOS 17 would break photo printing specifically for certain printers but allow all other printing.

ABSOLUTELY! Hardware manufacturers are required to keep their firmware compatible as Apple (and other manufacturers) update to new standards and fix identified vulnerabilities. It is part of the agreement they make when they request Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc announce that their product is supported. This applies to printers, medical devices such as hearing aids or blood sugar monitors, speakers, smart TVs. If this was not a requirement no manufacturer could ever add new features to their hardware.

Photo printing is a special case; that issue has been reported for your specific printer under other conditions also.

Sorry to interject here, but are manufacturers required to keep products updated with firmware when the protocol has changed? Surely the obligation is to provide support for current AirPrint protocols on new products which are supplied by Apple and are public domain. It’s surely the same as when Apple no longer provides updates to OS X or iOS. My old iPad will no longer update to the latest iOS 17. The product is regarded as a legacy product. Support for hardware can only last for a limited period. It’s how hardware manufacturers make their bucks!

Sorry to interject here, but are manufacturers required to keep products updated with firmware when the protocol has been updated by the protocol supplier, in this case Apple. Surely the obligation is to provide support on new products with current AirPrint protocols which are supplied by Apple and are public domain.

It’s surely the same as when Apple no longer provides updates to OS X or iOS. My old iPad will no longer update to the latest iOS 17. The product is regarded as a legacy product. likewise certain software apps will not run on older OSX versions such as Catalina, but are design and will only run on Ventura and Sonoma. Support for hardware can only last for a limited period. If you want the latest innovations you buy a new piece of hardware, be it a phone or a printer. It’s how hardware manufacturers make their bucks!

Lawrence, this thread is now massive, you’re the best qualified here, why don’t you start a new thread summing up all the information into one post making an easy read, I’m outa here now, hope people get sorted.

There are new threads all the time; the issue here is that a symptom is being reported: AirPrint not working. But there are many possible causes for that symptom, and the solution will be different for each cause. From reviewing the thread, the most frequent cause is out of date printer firmware, and it seems to be tied with a corrupt VPN profile. But it can also be an antivirus (actually, an iOS device should NEVER have an antivirus; all they do is slow the phone down, drain the battery, and accomplish nothing else), router settings, and a few others.

Thanks Lawrence, I think that there will be people who will read the thread and manage to get a fix for the problem, there are others for whom there won’t be an easy solution, there will be a few who will never get a fix for this problem. Thanks for your expertise and insight on this issue.

btw why do you use Printopia and not IP printing on your iMac.?

I found a solution (at least it was working this morning - fingers crossed) that worked for my Epson printer WF-3720. I unplugged the printer overnight. I plugged it back in the next morning and was able to print from my iphone which had been recently updated to IOS 17.

I use IP printing from my other Mac, but it doesn’t work from an iPhone. And remember, it’s a 25 year old printer with a parallel interface accessed via a USB to parallel adapter.

HP stopped making toner cartridges for it 10 years ago, so I have to use 3rd party refills.

amodra wrote:

I found a solution (at least it was working this morning - fingers crossed) that worked for my Epson printer WF-3720. I unplugged the printer overnight. I plugged it back in the next morning and was able to print from my iphone which had been recently updated to IOS 17.

What you probably did was update the printer firmware. When you powered it back on it checked for updates and found one.

Last weeks upgrade to my iPad Pro has resulted in printer settings lost, so I can no longer print envelopes to any standard formats, no gloss or matte paper settings (for improved image prints), and generally a corrupted effect to numerous print and configuration formats. Hours of chat / phone calls to canon and apple yield no results-except to conclude the upgrade has degraded pages functionality. The whole set up has been disrupted overnight. Very frustrating and no solution from apple.