View source for LaserWriter

{{Short description|1985 laser printer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox computer hardware
| name = LaserWriter
| image = Laserwriter.jpg
| caption =
| introduced = {{Start date|1985|03|01}}
| discontinued = {{End date|1988|02|01}}
| cost = {{USD|6995|1985|round=-1}}
| processor = [[Motorola 68000]]
| frequency = 12 MHz
| memory = 1.5 MB
| slots = 1
| rom = 512 KB
| ports = [[Serial port|Serial]], [[LocalTalk]], [[AppleTalk]]
| type = [[Laser printing|Laser]]
| color = Monochrome
| dpi = 300
| speed = 8 pages per minute
| language = [[PostScript]], [[Diablo 630]]
| power = 760 watts
| weight = {{convert|77|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| dimensions = (H × W × D) {{convert|11.5|*|18.5|*|16.2|in|cm|abbr=on}}
}}

The '''LaserWriter''' is a [[laser printing|laser printer]] with built-in [[PostScript]] interpreter sold by [[Apple Inc.|Apple, Inc.]] from 1985 to 1988. It was one of the first laser printers available to the mass market. In combination with [[WYSIWYG]] publishing software like [[Adobe PageMaker|PageMaker]] that operated on top of the [[graphical user interface]] of  [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] computers, the LaserWriter was a key component at the beginning of the [[desktop publishing]] revolution.<ref name="tucker">H. A. Tucker: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YlmafkntEqIC&pg=PA296 Desktop Publishing.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204028/https://books.google.com/books?id=YlmafkntEqIC&pg=PA296 |date=January 27, 2017 }}'' In: Maurice M. de Ruiter: ''Advances in Computer Graphics III.'' Springer, 1988, {{ISBN|3-540-18788-X}}, P. 296.</ref><ref name="spring">Michael B. Spring: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_MV46vFUrI4C&pg=PA46 Electronic printing and publishing: the document processing revolution.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127045338/https://books.google.com/books?id=_MV46vFUrI4C&pg=PA46 |date=January 27, 2017 }}'' CRC Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0-8247-8544-4}}, Page 46.</ref>

==History==

===Development of laser printing===
{{Main|Laser printing}}
Laser printing traces its history to efforts by [[Gary Starkweather]] at [[Xerox]] in 1969, which resulted in a commercial system called the [[Xerox 9700]]. [[IBM]] followed this with the [[IBM 3800]] system in 1976. Both machines were large, room-filling devices handling the combined output of many users.<ref name=e>Benji Edwards: ''[http://www.macworld.com/article/144880/2009/12/five_important_printers.html Apple's Five Most Important Printers.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417100720/http://www.macworld.com/article/144880/2009/12/five_important_printers.html |date=April 17, 2010 }}'' macworld.com, December 10, 2009.</ref> During the mid-1970s, [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] started working on similar machines, and partnered with [[Hewlett-Packard]] to produce 1980's HP 2680, which filled only part of a room.<ref name=j>Jim Hall, [http://www.hparchive.com/seminar_notes/HP_LaserJet_The%20Early%20History_by_Jim_Hall_110512.pdf "HP LaserJet – The Early History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608191741/http://www.hparchive.com/seminar_notes/HP_LaserJet_The%20Early%20History_by_Jim_Hall_110512.pdf |date=June 8, 2021 }}</ref>{{rp|3}} Other copier companies also started development of similar systems.

HP introduced their first desktop model, the 2687A with a [[Ricoh]] engine for $12,800 in 1983. Sales of the non-networked product were unsurprisingly poor.<ref name=j/>{{rp|4}} In 1983, Canon introduced the LBP-CX, a desktop laser printer engine using a [[laser diode]] and featuring an output resolution of 300 dpi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/reference/pcr/engine/1311 |title=Canon LBP-CX Engine |publisher=fixyourownprinter.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070131071535/http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/reference/pcr/engine/1311 |archive-date=January 31, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 1984, HP released the first commercially available system based on the LBP-CX, the [[HP LaserJet]].<ref name=e/>

===Apple's development===
By 1982 [[Apple Computer]] was rumored to be developing laser printers.<ref name="libes198209">{{Cite magazine |last=Libes |first=Sol |date=September 1982 |title=Bytelines |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-09/page/n488/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-12-30 |magazine=BYTE |pages=490–493}}</ref> [[Steve Jobs]] of Apple had seen the LBP-CX while negotiating for supplies of [[3.5" Floppy disk|3.5" floppy disk drives]] for the upcoming [[Mac (computer)|Apple Macintosh]] computer. Meanwhile, [[John Warnock]] had left Xerox to found [[Adobe Systems]] to commercialize [[PostScript]]  and [[AppleTalk]] in a laser printer they intended to market. Jobs was aware of Warnock's efforts, and upon his return to California he began convincing Warnock to allow Apple to license PostScript for a new printer that Apple would sell. Negotiations between Apple and Adobe over the use of PostScript began in 1983 and an agreement was reached in December 1983, one month before Macintosh was announced.<ref name="pfiff-2003" /> Jobs eventually arranged for Apple to buy $2.5 million in Adobe stock.

At about the same time, Jonathan Seybold ([[John W. Seybold]]'s son) introduced [[Paul Brainerd]] to Apple, where he learned of Apple's laser printer efforts and saw the potential for a new program using the Mac's [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] to produce PostScript output for the new printer. Arranging his own funding through a [[venture capital]] firm, Brainerd formed [[Aldus Corporation|Aldus]] and began development of what would become [[Adobe PageMaker|PageMaker]]. The venture capital coined the term "desktop publishing" during this time.<ref>David Wilma, [http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7657 "Brainerd, Paul (b. 1947)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207044317/http://historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7657 |date=February 7, 2012 }}, HistoryLink, February 22, 2006</ref>

===Release===
The LaserWriter was announced at Apple's annual shareholder meeting on January 23, 1985,<ref name="bart-1985">Jim Bartimo, Michael McCarthy: [https://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 "Is Apple's LaserWriter on Target?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224125559/https://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 |date=December 24, 2016 }}, ''InfoWorld'', Volume 7 Issue 6 (February 11, 1985), pp. 15-18.</ref> the same day Aldus announced PageMaker.<ref>''Aldus Announces Desktop Publishing System ...'' BusinessWire, January 23, 1985.</ref> Shipments began in March 1985<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 |title=Macintosh Timeline |access-date=April 13, 2010 |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610164626/http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 |url-status=live }}</ref> at the retail price of US$6,995,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/201455/five-important-printers.html |title= Apple's five most important printers |access-date=28 July 2025 |date=9 December 2009 }}</ref> significantly more than the HP model. However, the LaserWriter featured [[AppleTalk]] support that allowed the printer to be shared among as many as sixteen Macs, meaning that its per-user price could fall to under $450, far less expensive than HP's less-advanced model.

The combination of the LaserWriter, PostScript, PageMaker and the Mac's GUI and built-in AppleTalk networking would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.<ref name="pfiff-2003">Pamela Pfiffner: ''Inside the Publishing Revolution. The Adobe Story.'' Adobe Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-321-11564-3}}. Chapter ''Steve Jobs and the LaserWriter.'' Pages 33-46. A PDF of the chapter is available at  {{cite web |url=http://www.creativepro.com/article/inside-publishing-revolution-how-laserwriter-and-photoshop-changed-world |title=Inside the Publishing Revolution |publisher=CreativePro.com |date=December 3, 2002 |access-date=September 23, 2009 |archive-date=January 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106192137/http://www.creativepro.com/article/inside-publishing-revolution-how-laserwriter-and-photoshop-changed-world |url-status=live }}</ref> At the time, Apple planned to release a suite of AppleTalk products as part of the [[Macintosh Office]], with the LaserWriter being only the first component.<ref name="linz-1985">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXnw5tM8QRwC&pg=PA143
|author=Owen W. Linzmayer
|title=Apple Confidential 2.0
|year=2004
|publisher=No Starch Press
|access-date=September 23, 2009
|isbn=978-1-59327-010-0
|archive-date=June 21, 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621065345/http://books.google.com/books?id=mXnw5tM8QRwC&pg=PA143
|url-status=live
}} Chapter ''Why 1984 Wasn't like 1984.'' Pages 143-146.</ref>

While competing printers and their associated control languages offered some of the capabilities of PostScript, they were limited in their ability to reproduce free-form layouts (as a desktop publishing application might produce), use [[outline font]]s, or offer the level of detail and control over the page layout. HP's own LaserJet was driven by a simple [[page description language]], known as  [[Printer Command Language]], or PCL. The version for the LaserJet, PCL3, was extended from the previous [[laser printing|laser printers]].<ref name=j/>{{rp|5}} It lacked the power and flexibility of PostScript until several upgrades provided some level of parity.<ref>[http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html "HP's History Of Printer Command Language (PCL)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224212037/http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html |date=February 24, 2012 }}, HP</ref> It was some time before similar products became available on other platforms, by which time the Mac had ridden the desktop publishing market to success.

The LaserWriter contained four built-in PostScript font families: Times, Helvetica, Courier, and Symbol.  These fonts became very popular as a result, being used a lot in desktop publishing.

==Description==

===Hardware===
The LaserWriter used the same Canon CX printing engine as the HP LaserJet, and as a consequence early LaserWriters and LaserJets shared the same toner cartridges and paper trays.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/CX-Catalog/CX-AppLW-LWPlus.html |title=Printerworks.com: Apple LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus Printers |access-date=January 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801183228/http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/CX-Catalog/CX-AppLW-LWPlus.html |url-status=live }}</ref> PostScript is a complete [[programming language]] that has to be run in a suitable [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] and then sent to a software rasterizer program, all inside the printer. To support this, the LaserWriter featured a [[Motorola 68000]] [[central processing unit|CPU]] running at 12&nbsp;[[Megahertz|MHz]], 512&nbsp;KB of workspace [[Random-access memory|RAM]], and a 1&nbsp;MB frame buffer.<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/sp472 "LaserWriter: Technical Specifications"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165439/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP472 |date=August 11, 2011 }}, Apple</ref>

At introduction, the LaserWriter had the most processing power in Apple's product line&mdash;more than the 8&nbsp;MHz Macintosh. As a result, the LaserWriter was also one of Apple's most expensive offerings. For implementation purposes, the LaserWriter employed a small number of medium-scale-integration [[Monolithic Memories]] [[Programmable Array Logic|PAL]]s, and no custom [[Integrated circuit#LSI|LSI]], whereas the LaserJet employed a large number of small-scale-integration [[Texas Instruments]] [[7400 series|74-Series]] gates, and one custom LSI. The LaserWriter was, thereby, in the same form factor (for its [[Raster image processor|RIP]]), able to provide much greater function, and, indeed, much greater performance, all within the very same LBP-CX form factor, although the external packaging was, for marketing purposes, somewhat different.

===Networking===
Since the cost of a LaserWriter was several times that of a [[Dot matrix printing|dot-matrix impact printer]], some means to share the printer with several Macs was desired. [[Local area network|LANs]] were complex and expensive, so Apple developed its own networking scheme, [[LocalTalk]]. Based on the [[AppleTalk]] [[protocol stack]], LocalTalk connected the LaserWriter to the Mac over an [[RS-422]] serial port. At 230.4 [[kilobit|kbit]]/[[second|s]] LocalTalk was slower than the Centronics PC parallel interface, but allowed several computers to share a single LaserWriter. PostScript enabled the LaserWriter to print complex pages containing high-resolution [[Raster graphics|bitmap graphics]], [[outline font]]s, and vector illustrations. The LaserWriter could print more complex layouts than the [[HP LaserJet]] and other non-Postscript printers.  Paired with the program [[Aldus PageMaker]], the LaserWriter gave the layout editor an exact replica of the printed page. The LaserWriter offered a generally faithful proofing tool for preparing documents for quantity publication, and could print smaller quantities directly. The Mac platform quickly gained the favor of the emerging desktop-publishing industry, a market in which the Mac is still important.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/04/cnbc_on_the_mac_vs_pc_fight.html Apple Company News & Product Updates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417035726/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/04/cnbc_on_the_mac_vs_pc_fight.html |date=April 17, 2011 }}. Businessweek. Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref>

===Design===
The LaserWriter was the first major printer designed by Apple to use the new [[Snow White design language]] created by [[Frog Design]]. It also continued a departure from the beige color that characterized the Apple and Macintosh products to that time by using the same brighter, creamy off-white color first introduced with the [[Apple IIc]] and [[Apple Scribe Printer]] 8 months earlier. In that regard it and its successors stood out among all of Apple's Macintosh product offerings until 1987, when Apple adopted a unifying warm gray color they called Platinum across its entire product line, which was to last for over a decade.

The LaserWriter was also the first peripheral to use the [[LocalTalk]] connector and Apple's unified round AppleTalk Connector Family, which allowed any variety of mechanical networking systems to be plugged into the ports on the computers or printers. A common solution was the 3rd party [[PhoneNET]] which used conventional telephone cables for networking.

===Legacy===
Apple's [[Raster image processor|RIP]] was of its own design, and was implemented using few ICs, including [[Programmable Array Logic|PAL]]s for most combinatorial logic; with the subsystem timing DRAM refreshing, and rasterization functions being implemented in very few medium-scale-integration PALs. Apple's competitors (i.e., [[Quality Micro Systems|QMS]], [[NEC]], and others) generally used a variation of one of Adobe's RIPs with their large quantity of small-scale-integration (i.e., [[Texas Instruments]]' 7400 series) ICs.

In the same time-frame as Apple's LaserWriter, Adobe was licensing the very same version of PostScript to Apple's potential competitors (Apple's PostScript licensing terms were non-exclusive); however, all non-Apple licensees of PostScript generally employed one of Adobe's PostScript "reference models" (Atlas, Redstone, etc.) and even [[Mergenthaler Linotype Company|Linotype]]'s first [[Linotronic|image setter]] which featured PostScript employed such a "reference model" (but with customization for the Linotronic's different video interface, plus the necessary implementation of "banding" and a hard drive frame buffer and font storage mechanism). Indeed, the PostScript language itself was concurrently enhanced and extended to support these high-resolution "banding" devices (as contrasted to the lower resolution "framing" devices, such as the LaserWriter, in which the entire "frame" could be contained within the available [[Random-access memory|RAM]]).

In most cases, such RAM was fixed in size and was soldered to the logic board. In late PostScript Level 1, and in early PostScript Level 2, the RAM size was made variable and was generally extensible, through plug-in SIMMs, beyond the 2.0 to 2.5 MB minimum (0.5 to 1.0 MB for instructions, depending upon PostScript version, and 1.5 MB minimum for the "frame buffer", for the lowest resolution devices, 300 dpi), as more than 300 dpi of course required more RAM, and some LaserWriters were able to change between 300 dpi and 600 dpi, depending upon how much RAM was installed. 600 dpi, for example, required 6 MB of RAM, but 8 MB of RAM was more commonly found.

At this point, Apple's LaserWriters were employing generic non-parity RAM, whereas HP's LaserJets, especially the ones which offered a plug-in PostScript interpreter card, required special parity-type PS/2 RAM modules with a "presence detect" function according to IBM specs.

==Other LaserWriter models==
{{See also|List of Apple printers#Laser printer series}}

Building on the success of the original LaserWriter, Apple developed many further models. Later LaserWriters offered faster printing, higher [[dots per inch|resolution]]s, [[Ethernet]] connectivity, and eventually color output in the [[Color LaserWriter]]. To compete, many other laser printer manufacturers licensed Adobe PostScript for inclusion into their own models. Eventually the standardization on Ethernet for connectivity and the ubiquity of PostScript undermined the unique position of Apple's printers: Macintosh computers functioned equally well with any Postscript printer. After the LaserWriter 8500, Apple discontinued the LaserWriter product line in 1997 when [[Steve Jobs]] returned to Apple.

=== LaserWriter II ===
[[file:Apple Laserwriter II.jpg|Apple LaserWriter II|thumb|right|250px]]
In 1988, to address the need for both an affordable printer and a professional printer, the LaserWriter II was designed to allow for complete replacement of the computer circuit board that operates the printer. Across all the different models, the print engine was the same.
* For low-end users, there was the LaserWriter IISC,<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/SP474 LaserWriter IISC: Technical Specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165635/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP474 |date=August 11, 2011 }}. Support.apple.com (April 15, 2013). Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> a host-based [[QuickDraw]] printer connected via SCSI that did not use PostScript and did not require a license from Adobe. It had two SCSI ports to allow [[Daisy chain (electrical engineering)|daisy-chaining]] of the printer with other SCSI devices such as hard drives. It did not support AppleTalk.
* For midrange users, the LaserWriter IINT<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/SP475 LaserWriter IINT: Technical Specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165641/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP475 |date=August 11, 2011 }}. Support.apple.com (April 15, 2013). Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> provided PostScript support and AppleTalk networking.
* For high-end users, the LaserWriter IINTX<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/SP476 LaserWriter IINTX: Technical Specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165700/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP476 |date=August 11, 2011 }}. Support.apple.com (April 15, 2013). Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> also included a SCSI controller for storage of printer fonts on a hard drive dedicated for use by the printer.

Three years later in 1991, two updated versions of the LaserWriter II were produced.
* The LaserWriter IIf<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/SP477 LaserWriter IIf: Technical Specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165715/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP477 |date=August 11, 2011 }}. Support.apple.com (April 15, 2013). Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> had a faster processor than the IINTX, a newer version of PostScript and also HP PCL, and included the SCSI interface for font storage on an external hard drive.
* The LaserWriter IIg<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/SP478 LaserWriter IIg: Technical Specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165730/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP478 |date=August 11, 2011 }}. Support.apple.com (April 15, 2013). Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> had the capabilities of the IIf, and was also the first LaserWriter with a built-in Ethernet network interface.

To deliver higher performance, Apple eventually switched from the 68000 series to the [[Am29000]] series of processors to drive later models, starting with the Personal LaserWriter NTR in 1992.<ref name="computerdesign199205_risc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ComputerDe31N05199205_78866589/page/103/mode/1up | title=RISC chips continue conquest of embedded realm | magazine=Computer Design | last1=Child | first1=Jeffrey | date=May 1992 | access-date=24 February 2024 | pages=103–104, 106, 108, 110 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Apple Inc. laser printers}}

{{Apple printers}}
{{Apple hardware before 1998}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Products introduced in 1985]]
[[Category:Apple Inc. printers]]
[[Category:Laser printers]]
[[Category:Snow White design language]]
[[Category:Products and services discontinued in 1988]]
[[Category:Discontinued Apple Inc. products]]