My findings - AirPrint & HP 8500a Plus

That's really ridiculous. I have the same printer and assumed that ALL HP ePrint devices are capable of AirPrint. Currently, AirPrint does not make any sense at all.

EDIT: HP published a list with information about upcoming firmware upgrades for their latest printers. You can find it here: http://www.hp.com/sbso/printing/mac/apple-airprint.pdf
The 8500a plus is getting an upgrade on 27 December.

Message was edited by: businessmover

And we're working on pulling in that December 27th date a bit, but all I can say at the moment is sometime in December. And just to be clear, its up to HP to enable these devices, not Apple.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

Andrew, are there any updates regarding the release date? Thanks a lot for your help!

I'm just waiting for the update to show up on our servers. I'm traveling at the moment, but I was told the release was given the green light today. With any luck, it will be this week (and for all I know its available as you read this).

Just trying to help.

Andrew

That's great! I just installed the new firmware and it is working perfectly. I'm really impressed about the early release. Good job!

Glad it works for you, and I'm happy we were able to pull the release in as much as we where. There are quite a few people behind the scenes who got this done and out to you, and the thanks goes to all of them. I will pass your thanks on.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

I also got the 8500A update today. The touchscreen interface is SO much better.
My ipad immediately picked up the printer and printed just fine. Great job.

All I have to do now is figure out how my 2nd XP machine can see the printer which is strangely difficult!

Phil,

Sorry, that's an area where I have absolutely no expertise. Myself when I try to install Windows print drivers, I download the Enterprise drivers and then download [Bonjour Print Services for Windows|http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999]. That usually works just fine for me.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

So, I'm confused, I have an Officejet 8500 A909g that I've upgraded to the latest firmware and my iPhone doesn't see it. I can use Safari to log into it, but when I choose Print in any application it can't find the printer.

Am I missing something?

The 8500 (non-A) does not support AirPrint. You'd need the 8500A A910 model for that. You can still setup printer sharing as I outline in my [FAQ|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2658625&tstart=0] thread, or use [HP iPrint Photo|http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hp-iprint-photo-3-0/id299531647?mt=8] for printing directly.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

"non-A"? How confusing is that. It's an 8500 A909. And that's somehow different from an 8500A? Dear me, that's a mess... Whose idea what that naming scheme?

Trust me, it wasn't me that came up with the naming scheme. And I am often just as confused as others. Yes, it does seem completely silly that the 8500 A909 is not the 8500A series. But to be specific (and avoid any additional confusion), the 8500's that support AirPrint are the HP Officejet Pro 8500A A910 series. Alas, these decisions are beyond my pay grade.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

Hi together,
Merry Christmas first of all.
I just bought a 8500 A910 but Airprint is not working. I also have no idea how to update the Firmware. I didn´t found any possibility as also no firmware on HP webpage.
THanks for advises & help.

Apple diveces iPad or iPhone with newest Firmware.

regards Dominik

Dominik,

Here are the steps to upgrading you 8500A.

1) Make sure your 8500A is on the network, either Ethernet or Wireless.
2) Make sure your 8500A is allowed to access the internet (it will need HTTP access, or port 80).
3) Check for firmware updates from your front panel:

Right Arrow –> Setup –> Web Services Setup –> Product Updates –> Check for Product Updates

4) Accept and install the update.

If you are not seeing any updates then your printer is not getting access to the outside world. Check its network settings as well as the settings on your router.

If you're still not seeing the update, please post back how your device is connected to the network, and what kind of router you have.

Just trying to help.

Andrew