Apple has made a late change to its imminent wireless printing technology, AirPrint, excluding support for printers shared via a Mac or PC.
Documentation supplied with the latest developers’ beta of iOS 4.2 removes any reference to AirPrint support for shared printers. Instead iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users will only be able to print on “printers that support AirPrint”. At the UK, that amounts to HP’s range of ePrint-enabled printers and all-in-ones.
AppleInsider reports that Apple tech support has confirmed the change to at least one developer, noting that “Support for AirPrint on Windows and Mac has been cancelled”.
No explanation was offered, nor any indication if or when the feature will be restored.
AirPrint promised to be one of the key features of iOS 4.2, which is scheduled to be released this month. But with just a handful of printers currently supported, it will prove useful to a tiny fraction of Apple mobile device users.
