“Think Different” was the name of the advertising campaign launched by Apple 15 years ago, and it has continued to innovate till the present day. What does that then mean about using another manufacturer’s barcode printer for MAC? If it says “MAC compatible” on the box, is that enough? A few words on how Apple has set about connectivity between printers and its computers will help in choosing and using a suitable model.
For many years, connections from Apple computers used “AppleTalk”, released in 1984 as an advanced, proprietary connectivity solution. Yet Apple also recognized the usefulness of open standards for compatibility between different computing equipment. The most recent versions of the Apple operating system, the 2009 Mac OS X v10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) and the 2011 Mac OS X 10.7 (“Lion”) offer standard Ethernet networking for a barcode printer for MAC, but no longer support the AppleTalk protocols.
However, one barcode printer for MAC does not necessarily understand the same instructions as another. So for things to work there is one more piece of the jigsaw to put in place. The Mac OS needs an additional piece of software, a printer driver, to “speak the language” of a particular device. Recent versions of Mac OS have included only a few such drivers, so make sure the printer you want to use has a suitable MAC driver. For Intellibar printers for example, choose one from the “Network Series.” Then follow instructions to install and configure for your MAC system.
