This article explores the impact of Apple's LaserWriter printer, launched in 1985, on the world of printing and desktop publishing. It highlights the printer's role in making professional-quality printing accessible to individuals using personal computers.
Apple unveiled the LaserWriter printer in March 1985, marking nearly four decades since its introduction. This launch revolutionized the world of printing when combined with a Macintosh computer, Adobe Postscript technology, and Aldus PageMaker software, ushering in the era of desktop publishing. Prior to the LaserWriter, Apple 's ImageWriter was a dot-matrix printer, characterized by its limited speed and resolution.
The inclusion of a laser printer option proved to be a game-changer, enabling professional print layout and printing capabilities within the confines of a personal computer system. This technological synergy empowered Apple to implement a WYSIWYG design philosophy, known as What You See Is What You Get. This concept, now a standard in desktop publishing, ensures that a document displayed on the screen accurately reflects its printed appearance.While WYSIWYG design is commonplace today, it wasn't always the norm. Interestingly, the foundation for such a revolutionary system was first conceptualized by Xerox researchers at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). The Xerox Star, an enterprise-level solution, bore striking similarities to Apple's Lisa and Macintosh computers, featuring an intuitive graphical user interface controlled by a mouse. This signaled the imminent decline of the era where cryptic code words dictated computer software operation, paving the way for a more user-friendly experience. Although the LaserWriter was significantly more expensive compared to contemporary printers in 2025, it offered a compelling value proposition, being considerably more affordable and manageable than competing solutions. For approximately $7,000, businesses could acquire a high-quality in-house laser printer capable of producing eight pages per minute at a resolution of 300 dpi.This resolution enabled text and graphics to achieve a level of sharpness that smoothed out rough edges and rendered fine print legible. To achieve this feat, Apple equipped the LaserWriter with a powerful Motorola 68000 processor, identical to the one used in the Macintosh. This processor, coupled with Adobe Postscript software, maximized print quality while minimizing data transfer times, resulting in a fast, reliable, and efficient printing experience. Today's premier color laser printers effortlessly produce crisp, vibrant documents at resolutions up to 1,200 dpi with remarkable speeds of 35 pages per minute. Even budget-friendly inkjet printers significantly surpass the LaserWriter's speed and print quality. Nevertheless, Apple's LaserWriter printer secured its place in desktop publishing history, marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of printing technology
APPLE LASERWRITER DESKTOP PUBLISHING POSTSCRIPT WYSIWYG PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
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