What's the best printer for Mac?

Product Recommendation
Written By

Printers are terrible.

Actually, to be fair they are marvels of modern engineering. It's just a difficult problem for them to solve, converting our digital abstractions into concrete sheets of wood pulp. And some models are more successful at that than others.

In general, my recommendation is to not overspend. You can find fancy printers that cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars. But the reason for the high cost is volume. They are designed to turn out hundreds or thousands of prints per day without breaking a sweat. Or they have extra features such as collating, stapling, folding, or large format. If you do need something that is that high volume or specialty you may want to consult someone who can recommend a printer for your specific needs.

You also don't want to get a bargain basement printer, since then you're guaranteed to have problems.

Update April 2024: It appears that HP has discontinued my prior recommendation, the OfficeJet Pro 9015e and 9025e and replaced them with the OfficeJet Pro 9125e and 9135e respectively. Apart from newer software on the touch panel they appear to be virtually identical.

For the vast majority of home and small office users, I have a single recommendation: the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e. It is a compact all-in-one with all of the features that nearly anyone could need. It's user-friendly and reliable... well, as reliable as a printer can be.. Or if you do a bit more printing the OfficeJet Pro 9135e gives you dual paper trays, a larger touchscreen, a larger output bin, with slightly faster printing. Albeit with a larger size and price tag.

Both printers have great features:

  • Large individual color ink cartridges, rated at up to 2,000 pages

  • Easy-to-change ink

  • More robust WiFi than most printers

  • Options for USB, ethernet, or WiFi connections

  • Mobile printing from iPhone or iPad (or Android if you’re into that sort of thing)

  • No drivers to install–they use the AirPrint standard, meaning the software will never become obsolete with OS upgrades

  • Can automatically order replacement ink from Amazon when it gets low

  • Automatic 2-sided print, copy, and scan

  • Envelope printing ability

  • Fax (requires a phone line)

There are, however, a few limitations:

  • Printing to legal paper size is supported, but you can't print on legal double-sided.

  • Scanning legal paper size is only supported in the document feeder, not the flatbed.

  • Photo printing is good, but not excellent. If you need quality photo prints on occasion you're probably better off using the CVS app or Walgreens app on your iPhone or iPad. If you need regular photo printing you should probably look at a specialized photo printer.

  • It's a little clunky. Not huge, but it's not the most compact printer out there. Make sure you have enough desk space for it. But it's wireless so you can put it anywhere you have a power outlet. Personally, mine is in my laundry closet because it's out of the way and I only print on occasion.

  • There is no paper bypass, so if you need to print an envelope or a sheet of labels you'll need to remove the paper tray, insert the other paper, re-insert the tray, and then switch the paper back when you are done.

Why is this the best printer for Mac users?

In recent history, I've found that HP's software has been the easiest to use and seems to get updates for far longer. I've seen Epson and Canon both drop support for printers within a few years, meaning a new OS might break things. That's becoming less of a problem with the new AirPrint standards but HP was one of the first companies to fully embrace this new standard and since then I’ve trusted them a bit more on this.

HP has many printer models, but this one strikes a great balance between cost and quality. Cheaper printers tend to have tiny cartridges that are finicky to install and run out more often. Many have all of the colors in a single cartridge. More expensive printers end up being bulky, expensive to maintain, and given how little printing most people do these days they are probably just overkill.

Another reason I recommend this printer is that it's the same model I own myself. I prefer to have most of my customers own the same few products so that when there is a problem it's something I'm already familiar with and can more easily help with over the phone.

Setting up the printer

Setting the printer up is very easy using their HP Smart app for iPhone. Just follow the prompts in the app.

Setting up your Mac to print couldn't be easier. Just go to print and if you open the dropdown menu where you choose your printer you should see the printer as an option if you are on the same network. Unless you are using Chrome. You have to print with another app to get the printer set up on your computer, then you have to quit and re-open Chrome or restart your computer.

For details on the setup process, watch my video:

Say "no" to HP Instant Ink

HP offers its automatic ink delivery service called Instant Ink, which I despise. It's like signing up for a 90's era cell phone plan where you have to estimate how many minutes you are going to use every month. Print more than your selected number of pages and you get charged ridiculous overages. Use less than that and you're paying for printing that you didn't use. And really you're leasing the cartridges. If for some reason they can't charge your monthly service fee your printer will refuse to print, even if it has ink in it.

I'm sure that certain printing habits could make Instant ink a financial win for some people, but for most people, it's probably not the right solution.

If you do sign up for it, it's a huge hassle to cancel.

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