Apple's iOS 4.2 Coming With 'AirPrint'

Apple on Wednesday said that it's releasing a beta of the upcoming iOS 4.2 to software developers, and that the new OS for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches will include a printing feature called "AirPrint."

"AirPrint is Apple's powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS—no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download," Apple senior vice president Philip Schiller said in a statement.

Initially, however, AirPrint will only work directly with HP ePrint-enabled printers. Anyone else wanting to print from their iDevices will need to have a Mac or PC on a local network sharing the printer.

"iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch customers are going to love how easy it is to print using our new range of ePrint printers, creating high-quality printed pages in an instant," Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's Imaging and Printing Group, said in an official HP blog post.

HP ePrint is a system that gives printers e-mail addresses so they can print documents sent through the Internet. It's currently available on the inexpensive HP PhotoSmart e-All-in-One D110a, and HP said it's coming to at least a few more printers soon, although HP's Web site only shows that one model as being ePrint-enabled. Apple's press release cited "HP Photosmart, Officejet, Officejet Pro, and LaserJet Pro series ePrint enabled printers."

If all ePrint-enabled printers have e-mail addresses, they can receive documents from any mobile device, not just an iOS gadget. Printing from iOS will be integrated into a range of apps and involve a simple print button, though; other devices will have to bundle up what they want to send as an e-mail attachment, which is more complicated.

For now, printing from an iOS device is complicated and awkward, involving a range of third-party solutions. Most, like AirPrint, require a printer to be hooked up to a Mac or PC sharing the printer on a local network. A few print directly to printers with Wi-Fi.

Apple says iOS 4.2 will come in November, and that it will be free.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

US and Canadian mobile networks
Mobile phones released in the US
iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
Mobile hotspots
Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services.

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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