It’s four and a half months since iOS 4.2 was released, and AirPrint was touted as one of its headline features – promising easy wireless printing from iPad and iOS devices.
And the feature is still incredibly lame and entirely useless for many iOS users – because the list of printers that support AirPrint is still extremely short and all the printers on it are from just one manufacturer. The list today has just 18 printers on it, all of them from HP.
Of course there are simple tweaks to make AirPrint work with nearly any printer, and several good third party apps in the App Store (some paid, some free) that provide access to nearly all printers, regardless of manufacturer.
It just surprises me that Apple initially pitched this feature so heavily – promising ‘universal’ printing – then released it as something far less than that, and has done nothing to make it live up to original promises after all these months.
Patrick Jordan
Founder and Editor in Chief of iPad Insight. Husband, father to a lovely daughter, Commander of the Armies of the North, dog lover (especially Labs), Austinite, former Londoner, IT consultant, huge sports nut, iPad and mobile tech blogger, mobile apps junkie.
Follow Me: 
Your article sounds like it is Apple’s fault Canon, HP, Lexmark, Epson and any other printer manufacturer didn’t fall all over themselves and immediately build printers that would support airprint. Give it time. I have an iPad2 and also want airprint capable printers. Air Print is a great idea and I’m sure more and more will come on board.