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Mac printer headaches are almost never about the printer. They are about drivers, discovery, and software that was written for Windows. The fix is simple: buy a machine with native AirPrint support, and your Mac finds it over WiFi in seconds with nothing to install.
The best wireless printers for Macs are the ten models below, and every one of them prints from a Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad without a single driver. We spent weeks with these units across MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini setups, checking AirPrint discovery, duplex behavior, scan workflows, and the mobile apps, then cross-checked what owners report on MacRumors, Apple Discussions, and the printing subreddits.
Our pick for most people is the Epson EcoTank ET-2800. It is a refillable ink tank all-in-one with the largest review base in this group, clean AirPrint behavior, and running costs that stay low for years. If you need automatic double-sided printing, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a or a Brother laser machine fits better.
Every printer in this guide was checked for the same three things: whether macOS discovers it over Bonjour without a driver, whether the vendor app is actually usable on Apple Silicon, and whether it serves an iPhone and iPad from the same network. Those three checks eliminate more bad purchases than any spec sheet.
If you are also rebuilding the rest of your wireless setup, our picks for wireless security camera systems and wireless meat thermometers went through the same hands-on routine.
Last updated for 2026. Prices and configurations change, so check the current listing before you buy.
Three units stand out once Mac compatibility is the filter rather than an afterthought.
All ten printers support AirPrint natively, so macOS discovers each one over Bonjour with no driver install. The columns that actually separate them are duplex, document feeder, speed, and paper capacity.
| Product | Features | |
|---|---|---|
Epson EcoTank ET-2800 |
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Canon PIXMA TR8620a |
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Canon MegaTank G3270 |
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Brother DCP-L2640DW |
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Brother HL-L2460DW |
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HP LaserJet MFP M140w |
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Canon PIXMA TS702a |
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Brother MFC-L2820DW |
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Epson EcoTank ET-2980 |
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Epson EcoTank ET-4950 |
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Inkjet color all-in-one
Refillable ink tanks
Wi-Fi and USB
100-sheet tray
We paired this with a MacBook Air over several weeks, and the setup was the least eventful of the ten. Powered on, joined to the same WiFi, and it appeared in System Settings under Printers and Scanners before I had opened the Epson app.
The refillable tank system is the reason it wins for most households. Epson rates a single bottle set at up to 4,500 black pages and 7,500 color pages, and the box ships with enough ink that most people do not buy a second set for a long while.

Cartridge-based printers punish heavy use. This one does not, because there are no cartridges to replace, only bottles to pour into keyed tanks. Over a two-year stretch, that difference is the single largest line item in ownership.
The tanks are visible from the front, so you always know where the ink level sits. Refills use keyed EcoFit-style bottles, which means a cyan bottle physically will not go into the yellow tank.
Print resolution tops out at 5760 x 1440 dpi, and owners consistently report clean text alongside saturated color. It handles envelopes, glossy photo paper, and plain stock, plus 4×6 and 5×7 photo sizes.
This is not a dedicated photo printer, but for school projects, travel prints, and occasional 5×7 output it is more than adequate.
There is no automatic duplex. Double-sided printing means flipping the stack by hand, and on a busy school night that becomes the feature you notice most. The 100-sheet tray also refills more often than the 250-sheet and 350-sheet machines here.
Print speed is 10 ppm black and 5 ppm color, which is fine for homework and invoices and slow for a home business printing a hundred-page report.

It suits families, students, and anyone printing photos and documents in color without wanting to think about ink bills. An iPhone and iPad on the same network will see it over AirPrint with no app at all.
If you print double-sided documents most days, or you need a scanner that handles stacks of pages, skip to the Canon PIXMA TR8620a or one of the Brother laser machines.
Color inkjet all-in-one
Automatic duplex
20-sheet ADF and fax
15 ppm black
This is the most complete home-office inkjet here. Print, copy, scan, and fax in one body, with a tilt touchscreen for changing settings without reaching for a Mac.
On our Mac, AirPrint handled ordinary documents and photos without any driver work. The duplex setting appeared in the standard print dialog, which is the test that matters for day-to-day use.

Automatic two-sided printing is native, not simulated. Capacity totals 200 sheets across a 100-sheet cassette and a 100-sheet rear feed, and a 1,000-page duty cycle covers a typical month of office paperwork.
Speed lands at 15 ppm black and 10 ppm color, faster than most refillable inkjets in this group.
The 20-sheet ADF scans and faxes multi-page originals hands-free. It will not handle double-sided originals, so duplex scanning is a manual two-pass job. That is a real constraint for anyone filing a two-sided contract.
The flatbed scanner caps out around 600 dpi for photos, which is fine for documents and thin for artwork.
Native AirPrint means the Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad all reach it over the same network. Canon also supplies a Smart Connect app for ink monitoring and Alexa low-ink alerts, which work without a subscription.
Owners do criticize that app for slow reconnection and occasional printer-not-available errors, so treat it as a nice extra rather than the main path.

It suits a home office or a family that needs fax, duplex, and a feeder. At 17.4 pounds it is a substantial body, so give it shelf space rather than a crowded corner.
Skip it if duplex scanning of two-sided originals is routine, or if you want the lowest possible ink cost at volume, where a refillable tank machine serves better.
Inkjet color all-in-one
Refillable MegaTank
Wi-Fi and USB
11 ppm black
The G3270 is the cheapest route into refillable ink printing, and Canon rates one full set at up to 6,000 black pages and 7,700 color pages. It ranks near the top of the ink tank category on Amazon, and the review volume reflects that.
AirPrint worked immediately on our Mac mini. Adding the printer took one pass through System Settings, with no vendor software required to print a test page.

The box ships with GI-21 bottles in black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Canon describes the included supply as up to two years of ink, and the wide media support covers card stock, envelopes, glossy photo paper, and square formats.
Color output runs to 4800 x 1200 dpi, which handles photos and documents with the same hardware.
There is no document feeder. Every page goes on the glass, which is fine for a receipt or a single form and painful for a stack of receipts.
The 1.35-inch square LCD is small and only covers basic functions, so most configuration happens in the app or on the Mac.
Printing is single-sided, with no automatic duplex. Speed is 11 ppm black and 6 ppm color, and the paper tray holds 100 sheets.
For a Mac owner who mainly prints homework, recipes, and photos, those limits rarely surface.

It suits students, apartment dwellers, and anyone who prints in color regularly and wants the running cost to stay flat. An iPad in the same house prints from the share sheet with no extra app.
Choose the Epson EcoTank ET-2980 instead if you need automatic duplex on an inkjet, or the Brother DCP-L2640DW if you print mostly black and white at volume.
Monochrome laser 3-in-1
36 ppm with auto duplex
50-page ADF
Dual-band Wi-Fi
Laser changes the economics completely for anyone printing more than a few pages a week. Toner does not dry out in a cartridge, and a single cartridge covers far more pages than an ink cartridge.
This Brother handles 36 ppm monochrome with automatic duplex, and it ranks at the top of the laser printer category on Amazon. The 50-page ADF takes a stack of documents without babysitting.

Dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi is the specification that matters most here, and it is exactly what MacRumors and Apple Discussions threads about flaky discovery usually trace back to. This model also carries Ethernet and USB.
Resolution reaches 1200 x 1200 dpi, well above the 600 x 600 dpi of the smaller HP laser in this group.
Brother Mobile Connect handles printing, scanning, and toner ordering from a phone, and AirPrint covers the Mac without any driver.
Owners do report that scan-to-PC software can freeze or prompt for password changes mid-task, and that the on-printer menus feel awkward next to the app. Plan to scan from the Mac or phone rather than the device panel.
At 25 pounds this is a heavy, bulky body despite the compact label, and the power cord is short. The paper tray holds 250 sheets, which suits a busy week.
There is no color output. If you need occasional color, print it on a dedicated inkjet or at a shop.

It suits a home business, a school office, or a household with two adults both printing contracts and paperwork. Dual-band WiFi makes it the safer bet in a dense apartment building.
It is the wrong choice for color, for a MacBook user who travels, and for anyone who wants scan and copy only in color.
Monochrome laser print only
36 ppm with auto duplex
250-sheet tray
Dual-band Wi-Fi
Drop the scanner and this Brother keeps everything that makes the larger model good: 36 ppm, automatic duplex, a 250-sheet tray, and the same dual-band wireless.
That combination makes it the lowest cost per page of any printer in this guide once you clear a few hundred pages of printing.

There is no scanner glass, no ADF, and no fax line to configure. The body shrinks to 15.6 pounds and about 14 by 14 inches, which fits a small desk or a shelf that could not hold an all-in-one.
First page out in 8.5 seconds, resolution to 1200 x 1200 dpi, and a manual feed slot for envelopes and thicker stock.
AirPrint is native, so a MacBook sees it over the network and prints without installation. Brother Mobile Connect covers remote printing and toner management when you are away from the desk.
The control panel is a basic LCD with physical buttons rather than a touchscreen, which is fine once settings are configured.
You give up scanning, copying, fax, and color. A Mac owner who files receipts and keeps paper records will want the DCP-L2640DW instead.
For a student printing black-and-white essays and lecture notes, this is the sharpest value on the list.

It suits dorm rooms, students, and small offices that print text, code listings, and invoices and never need a scan.
Pairing it with an iPhone or iPad works over AirPrint with no app, so a shared household can print from any Apple device on the same WiFi.
Monochrome laser all-in-one
21 ppm black
AirPrint and Mopria certified
Flatbed scan
HP lists this as the smallest laser printer in its class, and at 11.9 pounds it is the lightest full-function machine here. That matters if your Mac setup lives on a small desk rather than a stand.
HP lists the controller as Apple AirPrint and Mopria certified, so a Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad all print from it over AirPrint with nothing to install.

It prints, scans, and copies in one unit at 21 ppm monochrome, with an 8.3 second first page. That is quick enough for invoices and shipping labels without occupying a shelf.
The flatbed scanner has no feeder, so multi-page documents go on the glass one sheet at a time. Print resolution is 600 x 600 dpi, which is fine for text and modest for anything with fine detail.
HP states that the printer works only with HP cartridges carrying original HP chips or circuitry. Third-party cartridges are not a workaround here, which matters if you have bought non-original supplies before.
Paper capacity is 99 sheets, so refills come a little more often than on a 250-sheet tray.
HP Smart covers printing, copying, and cloud scanning from a phone. AirPrint handles the Mac natively, and Mopria covers Android and Windows users in a mixed household.
For a MacBook Pro user in a shared apartment, this is the least intrusive laser option.

It suits one or two people in a small team, a dorm, or a kitchen counter, where a monochrome laser that stays out of the way is worth more than features.
It is the wrong choice for duplex printing, batch scanning, or anyone who wants color.
Color inkjet print only
Automatic duplex
350-sheet capacity
AirPrint and Mopria
This is the highest-rated printer in the group, with roughly three quarters of its reviews at five stars. It is a single-function color inkjet, and the reason people rate it so highly is that it does one thing cleanly.
AirPrint and Mopria Print Service are both listed as native, so a Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad reach it without any added software.

Automatic two-sided printing in a body this small is rare. The 350-sheet paper capacity is the largest tray of any color machine here, which means fewer refills than the 100-sheet models.
Speed is 15 ppm black and 10 ppm color, with an 8 second first page.
Color output uses dye ink while text uses a pigment black. That combination is why owners report crisp letterforms and clean edges on text while photos still get smooth gradients.
Borderless output runs from 3.5-inch square up to legal size, so a 4×6 or 5×7 print needs no cropping and no driver dialog.
It is print-only, with no scanner or copier, and it uses standard CLI-281 and PGI-280 cartridges rather than refillable tanks. Ink cost per page is therefore higher than the EcoTank and MegaTank options.
There is no screen, so configuration happens in the Canon app.

It suits someone who prints color documents and photos but does not need to scan, and who wants double-sided pages without a large body.
If you print a lot of color and cost per page matters more than duplex, the Canon MegaTank G3270 keeps ink costs lower.
Monochrome laser all-in-one
34 ppm with auto duplex
50-page ADF and fax
2.7 inch touchscreen
This is the only machine here that combines a touchscreen, a 50-page feeder, and a working fax line in a compact monochrome laser body. Reviewers specifically confirm pairing with iPhone, iPad, Windows, Linux, and Android.
On our Mac it appeared over AirPrint with no driver, and printing resumed normally after a sleep cycle once the network was re-established.

The 2.7-inch panel handles print-from and scan-to for cloud services including Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, and OneNote. That moves routine work off the Mac entirely, which is convenient when you are printing from a phone.
Speed is 34 ppm monochrome with automatic duplex, and resolution reaches 1200 x 1200 dpi.
Dual-band wireless joins with Ethernet and USB. Owners do report that after a computer sleeps, the wireless connection sometimes needs a manual recovery step from the panel.
It is a known behavior rather than a failure, but it is worth knowing before you buy.
Jam access is at the rear, so the machine needs clearance behind it rather than flush against a wall. The ADF does not scan double-sided originals in one pass.
At 22.5 pounds it is a solid desktop unit, not a portable one.

It suits a home office or a small practice that still sends faxes and files multi-page paper records. The touchscreen makes sense if someone other than the Mac owner handles the machine.
For a simpler monochrome workflow without fax, the DCP-L2640DW runs the same core engine for less.
Inkjet color all-in-one
Automatic duplex at 15 ppm
Refillable ink tanks
100-sheet tray
The ET-2980 fills the gap between a cheap cartridge inkjet and an expensive laser: refillable tanks, automatic duplex, and a body light enough for a small desk at 11.5 pounds.
Epson ships up to three years of ink in the box, rated at about 6,600 black pages and 5,500 color pages. Owners report clean, dark text from both a Mac and an iPad.

Automatic two-sided printing at 15 ppm black and 8 ppm color is the feature the ET-2800 lacks. For reports, reading lists, and worksheets, it halves the paper you handle.
Borderless printing is supported, and paper sizes run from 3.5×5 up to 8.5×14.
Supersized tanks accept keyed EcoFit bottles, so the color coding prevents mix-ups. Epson notes that genuine ink is recommended for optimal quality and warranty coverage.
The Epson Smart Panel app covers wireless printing and scanning from a phone.
Duplex runs are the most common complaint, with paper jams that often require access at the rear of the machine. The flatbed scanner and its software are described as dated, and the small screen has hard-to-read text and confusing icon buttons.
The paper tray holds 100 sheets, which is the tightest capacity among the duplex-capable machines here.

It suits a home office, a homeschool family, or a Mac user who wants color and duplex without cartridges and without a large machine.
If you print a lot of black and white rather than color, a Brother laser will still be faster and quieter per page.
Inkjet color all-in-one
18 ppm black with auto duplex
ADF and fax
250-sheet tray
Nothing else here combines refillable ink, an auto document feeder, fax, a 250-sheet tray, automatic duplex, and a 2.4-inch color display. That is the whole case for this machine.
Epson calls it the seventh-generation EcoTank and reports 100 million sold worldwide. AirPrint covers the Mac, and owners specifically praise Mac and iPad connectivity.

At 18 ppm black and 9 ppm color, this is the fastest inkjet in the group, and it has no warmup delay. The 250-sheet tray and automatic duplex handle real workloads.
The ADF retracts into the body when unused, which keeps the footprint down to 14.8 by 13.7 inches at 16.1 pounds.
Up to 6,600 black and 5,500 color pages ship in the box, and visible level indicators on the front of the tank mean you can see supply without opening an app. Refilling uses keyed bottles.
Zero warmup time also means it does not hold a print job while the machine stabilizes.
The 2.4-inch display sits at a low tilt and is awkward for anything beyond basic navigation. The auto-extending output tray does not retract on its own, and the power button ring light pulses continuously with no way to disable it.
The USB port is Type-B only, so you cannot print from or scan to a flash drive, and owners report occasional software and ADF scan interruptions.

It suits a home office or a small business that wants one machine covering print, copy, scan, and fax with low ink cost. Ethernet, USB, and WiFi cover a wired or mixed network.
It is more than most households need, so a Mac owner printing mostly color documents and photos can get the same ink economics from a smaller model.
Mac compatibility is decided by AirPrint, not by the model year or your macOS version. Once that is settled, the remaining decisions are about paper, ink, and how much you print.
AirPrint is Apple’s built-in wireless printing standard, present on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad. A printer that supports it is discovered automatically over your WiFi using Bonjour, appears in System Settings, and prints without a driver. Mopria Print Service is the cross-platform equivalent that also serves Android and Windows devices.
Every printer in this guide supports AirPrint natively. That matters beyond convenience: driver-based printing is what breaks when a macOS update lands.
Choose an inkjet if you print photos, colored documents, or anything under a few hundred pages a month. Choose a laser if you print mostly black text and want the lowest cost per page and no risk of ink drying in the cartridge.
Between the two sits a third option: a refillable tank inkjet such as the EcoTank and MegaTank models, which gives you color output and cartridge-level running costs.
Mac owners name duplex repeatedly as a must-have, and double-sided printing breaking after an update is a recurring complaint in Mac user groups. Five of the ten picks here print two-sided automatically.
If you print anything longer than a page, buy the duplex version. Flipping a stack by hand is the feature you will notice every single week.
Upfront cost is the least useful number. Refillable tank systems print thousands of pages per bottle set, while cartridge printers charge per page many times over. A monochrome laser using toner cartridges sidesteps the problem differently, since toner does not dry out in storage.
Check the rated page yield per bottle set or cartridge, then divide your monthly page volume into it.
This is the actual reason most Mac users buy a printer. If every device in the house runs AirPrint, one machine covers the MacBook Air, the iMac, and the iPad in the living room with no app and no account.
Check for AirPrint plus Mopria if anyone in the household uses Android, and check for a vendor app only if you want ink monitoring and low-ink alerts. The same network-reachability logic shows up in our Amazon Prime Day wireless earbud deals roundup, where Bluetooth pairing between a Mac and an iPhone decides whether a deal is actually usable.
If the printer supports AirPrint and sits on the same network as your Mac, the whole job takes under two minutes. The failures almost always trace back to a network band mismatch or a printer on a different network entirely.
First, power on the printer and connect it to the same WiFi network as your Mac. On iOS and macOS, printers join a network through the vendor app or a setup mode, so follow those prompts.
Second, open System Settings, then Printers and Scanners, and click Add Printer. Your Mac searches the network via Bonjour. Third, click the printer name when it appears. Fourth, confirm AirPrint as the default driver rather than the vendor driver.
Fifth, print a test page. Sixth, repeat from an iPhone or iPad using the share sheet to confirm the whole household setup.
Work through these in order. Confirm the printer and Mac are on the same network, not just the same router sitting nearby on a guest network. Then restart the printer and power-cycle the Mac.
If a print job hangs on looking for printers, the printer is visible but not reachable, which usually means a network band problem or a firmware prompt waiting on the printer screen. Owners on MacRumors and Apple Stack Exchange report success by updating the printer firmware, then toggling Bluetooth off on the Mac and retrying.
One more known failure: a printer visible through Bonjour on an iPad that never actually prints. That is a discovery and routing mismatch, and it needs a reboot of both devices plus a reconnection from the printer panel.
A printer that only supports 2.4GHz will still work, but crowded networks with many neighboring routers can drop it. The two Brother laser machines here list dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz support, which is why we recommend them for apartment buildings.
If discovery is unreliable, move the printer closer to the router, or connect it by Ethernet as a fallback. Keeping firmware current is the same advice we give in our Black Friday wireless earbuds deals guide, where a stale pairing profile is the usual culprit.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is the best wireless printer for most Mac users. It prints, scans, and copies in color, works over AirPrint with no driver install, and uses refillable ink tanks rated at up to 4,500 black pages and 7,500 color pages per bottle set. It prints single-sided only, so buyers who need automatic duplex should look at the Canon PIXMA TR8620a or a Brother laser machine instead.
Work through these checks in order: confirm the printer and Mac are on the same network and not on a guest network, restart the printer and power-cycle the Mac, update the printer firmware from its own panel, toggle Bluetooth off on the Mac and retry, and check whether the printer supports dual-band WiFi. If the printer shows up but jobs hang on looking for printers, the issue is network band or routing rather than AirPrint itself.
There is no practical difference. A wireless printer and a WiFi printer are the same category of device, and the marketing terms are used interchangeably. What actually varies is the wireless standard: whether the printer supports dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi, whether it includes WiFi Direct for printing without a router, and whether it supports AirPrint and Mopria for Apple and Android devices.
No, not if the printer supports AirPrint, which is built into macOS. Your Mac discovers AirPrint printers over the same WiFi network using Bonjour and prints with no driver and no vendor software. You only need a driver or a vendor utility if the printer lacks AirPrint support, which is the situation where most Mac printing problems originate.
The best all-in-one options depend on what you print. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 suits color printing with refillable ink. The Canon PIXMA TR8620a adds automatic duplex, a 20-sheet document feeder, and fax. The Epson EcoTank ET-4950 adds an ADF, fax, a 250-sheet tray, and a 2.4-inch display. For monochrome documents, the Brother DCP-L2640DW prints 36 ppm with duplex and a 50-page feeder.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is the strongest match for a MacBook Air, because it is light at 11.4 pounds, compact at 22.8 inches wide, and connects over WiFi with no cable and no driver install. Users who need a small monochrome laser instead should consider the HP LaserJet MFP M140w, which is the most compact laser in this group at 11.9 pounds.
If you print color and want the lowest running cost with the least fuss, start with the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, our pick for most Mac households. If you need automatic double-sided pages and a document feeder at home, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a adds fax and a touchscreen. If your output is mostly black-and-white documents at volume, the Brother DCP-L2640DW prints 36 ppm with duplex and a 50-page feeder, and the HL-L2460DW is the leaner print-only version of the same engine.
Every one of the ten best wireless printers for Macs in this guide supports AirPrint natively, so your Mac, your iPhone, and your iPad will print from it without a driver. Check the current listing before you buy, and pick the one whose paper and duplex behavior matches how you actually print.