LaserWriter

The Apple LaserWriter was one the first laser printers available to the mass market. Combined with GUI-based programs like PageMaker on the Macintosh, it is generally considered to have sparked the desktop publishing (DTP) revolution in the mid-1980s.

Background
Unlike models from HP, which had been introduced a few months earlier and used their proprietary PCL printing language, the LaserWriter included the PostScript page description language from Adobe Systems, which allowed for far more complex Vector graphics|graphics, high-resolution bitmap graphics, outline fonts, and generally much better-looking output.

The use of PostScript comes at a cost. Unlike PCL and other early printer control languages, PostScript is a complete programming language and requires a complete computer to run it. In the case of the LaserWriter, this was a Motorola 68000 CPU running at 12MHz, making it the fastest machine in Apple's lineup, and the most expensive at $6,995 when it was introduced in late 1985.

At this sort of price point, the printer needed to be shared among several computers. However Local area network (LANs) were both complex and expensive at the time, so in typical Apple fashion they wrote software to drive the Mac's RS-422 port at about 250kbps, wrote a protocol stack called AppleTalk to run on top of it, and delivered the result as LocalTalk (referring to the hardware, cabling, and software).

When shared between several machines, the LaserWriter quickly fell to an attractive price point. It was unmatched in terms of printing ability and could be fully utilized only under a GUI-based computer, on which Apple had the monopoly at the time. Millions were eventually sold, and the LaserWriter is also credited with saving both the Macintosh and Apple.

Building on the success of the original LaserWriter, Apple developed many successive models. These later LaserWriters offered faster print speeds, higher resolutions, ethernet connectivity, and eventually, color output. To compete, many other laser printer manufacturers introduced models with PostScript capability. Eventually, the standardization on Ethernet and PostScript as a means for connecting to and controlling laser printers made Apple's printers superfluous, and Apple discontinued the line after the LaserWriter 8500.

The LaserWriter has an interactive PostScript interpreter: one can actually connect a serial terminal to the printer and, by typing "executive", communicate with the printer's computer. The printer will also display diagnostic error messages on this link. (RS-232, 19.2kbaud, 8-bit, no parity, 1 stop bit.)

Models

 * LaserWriter (March 1985), included 13 fonts in ROM and 300-dpi resolution.
 * LaserWriter Plus (January 16, 1986), included 35 fonts in ROM, which became standard.
 * LaserWriter II NT (1988), reduced weight and cost.
 * LaserWriter II NTX (1988), the first model to support external SCSI drives to install more fonts.
 * LaserWriter II SC (1988), the first model to use QuickDraw instead of PostScript.
 * LaserWriter IIf (October 1991), introduced Fineprint edge smoothing and PhotoGrade.
 * LaserWriter IIg (October 1991), the first model with ethernet.
 * LaserWriter Pro 600 (1993), the first model with PostScript Level 2 and 600-dpi resolution.
 * LaserWriter Pro 630 (1993), also included SCSI and ethernet ports.
 * LaserWriter Pro 810 (1993), first to support 800-dpi on large format paper up to 11" x 17".
 * Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS (June 1995), the first color model and the most expensive LaserWriter ever sold.
 * LaserWriter 12/640 PS (June 1996), the first model to support double-sided printing (RAM upgrade required).
 * Color LaserWriter 12/660 PS (October 1996), a lower-cost color model that was widely adopted by Kinko's.
 * LaserWriter 8500 (August 1997), the first model with PostScript Level 3, and the last laser printer from Apple. Supported 600-dpi color on large format paper up to 13" x 20".