The LaserWriter 8500 was a large format monochrome laser printer from the LaserWriter series that was released by Apple Computer for the workgroup market in May 1997. It was the last printer to be marketed under the Apple brand.
Description[]
The 8500 could print at a resolution of 600-dpi from a Fuji Xerox P880 print engine that could output 20 pages-per-minute, or 8 pages-per-minute in double-sided mode, which requires a duplexing attachment. It can handle up to 13 x 20-inch paper and up to 500 sheets in its paper cassette. An optional sheet feeder attachment can expand maximum capacity by another 500 pages. It utilized FinePrint and PhotoGrade to adjust individual dot sizes to simulate smoother edges and grays produced by higher resolution printers.[1]
The 60/30 MHz AMD Am29040 processor could rasterize images from PostScript Level 3 or PCL 5 printer data. The data could be transmitted through a LocalTalk network to its RS-422 serial port, or a direct PC connection to its parallel port. It also supports faster EtherTalk, Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX), NetBios, Novell Directory Services (NDS), or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) networking over 10BASE-T or a proprietary AAUI Ethernet port. A SCSI port could be used to attach an external drive to store additional fonts.[1]
Included fonts[]
- Albertus MT
- Antique Olive***
- Apple Chancery* ***
- Arial* ***
- Avant Garde***
- Bodoni***
- Bookman***
- Carta
- Clarendon***
- Chicago* ***
- Cooper Black
- Copperplate 32
- Copperplate 33
- Coronet***
- Courier***
- Delphian*
- Geneva* ***
- Gill Sans***
- Goudy
- Helvetica***
- Helvetica Condensed
- Helvetica Narrow***
- Hoefler Text Black* ***
- Joanna MT***
- Letter Gothic***
- Lubalin Graph
- Marigold
- Mona Lisa
- Monaco* ***
- New Century Schoolbook***
- New York* ***
- Optima
- Oxford
- Palatino
- Stempel Garamond***
- Symbol
- Tekton
- Times***
- Times New Roman*
- Univers***
- Univers Condensed***
- Wingdongs**
- Zapf Chancery***
- Zapf Dingbats
- * In TrueType format only.
- ** In TrueType and PostScript Type 1 formats.
- *** Also available with Central European character set.
Discontinuation[]
The 8500 was discontinued in 1999 as Apple exited the printer market.[1]
Legacy support[]
Apple phased out support for printing over the old AppleTalk-based EtherTalk protocol in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).[2][3] Printing over TCP/IP is possible, but this requires configuring an IPv4 address over EtherTalk by a Mac running Apple Printer Utility in classic Mac OS or the Classic environment.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 LaserWriter 8500, Low End Mac. 1993-10-01.
- ↑ Make Old Apple Printers Work in Snow Leopard by Adam Engst, TidBITs. 2009-10-06.
- ↑ Apple Filing Protocol Ethernet Networks, Classic Mac Networking, The Apple Fool. Accessed 2021-05-15.
- ↑ Network Printer OS 9 by MisterMe, MacRumors Forums. 2006-04-26.
External links[]
- LaserWriter 8500 at Apple (archived 1998-04-29, 1997-12-10)
- LaserWriter 8500: Technical Specifications at Apple Support
- LaserWriter 8500 (PDF) by Apple Service Source (mirrored)
- LaserWriter 8500 at Applematters
- LaserWriter 8500 at IT History Society
- LaserWriter 8500 at madeApple
- Apple LaserWriter 8500 specs at CNET
- Apple LaserWriter 8500 at Creative Pro
- Apple LaserWriter 8500 at the North East Florida Educational Consortium
- Apple LaserWriter 8500 Printer by Michael Joseph at WebWizard
Articles[]
- Apple’s five most important printers by Benj Edwards at PC Macworld (2009-12-09)
