The 68000 became the dominant CPU for Unix based workstations including Sun workstations and Apollo / Domain workstations, found its way into heralded computers such as the Apple Lisa and Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, and was used in the first generation of desktop laser printers including the original Apple Inc. LaserWriter and the HP LaserJet.

In March 1985, the Apple LaserWriter was the first printer to ship with PostScript, sparking the desktop publishing ( DTP ) revolution in the mid-1980s.

Meanwhile, in exchange for Truetype, Apple got a license for TrueImage, a PostScript-compatible page description language owned by Microsoft that Apple could use in their laser printers. This was never actually included in any Apple products when a later deal was struck between Apple and Adobe, where Adobe promised to put a TrueType interpreter in their PostScript printer boards, Apple renewed its agreements with Adobe for the use of PostScript in its printers ; resulting in lower royalty payments to Adobe who was beginning to license printer controllers capable of competing directly with Apple's LaserWriter printers.

The HP LaserJet printer was quickly followed by laser printers from Brother Industries, IBM, Apple Computer ( with the LaserWriter ) and others.

The LaserWriter was a laser printer with built-in PostScript interpreter introduced by Apple in 1985.

In combination with WYSIWYG publishing software like PageMaker, that operated on top of the graphical user interface of Macintosh computers, the LaserWriter was a key component at the beginning of the desktop publishing revolution.

The LaserWriter was announced at Apple's annual shareholder meeting on January 23, 1985, the same day Aldus announced PageMaker.

As a result, the LaserWriter was also one of Apple's most expensive offerings.

Since the cost of a LaserWriter was several times that of a dot-matrix impact printer, some means to share the printer with several Macs was desired.

At 230. 4 kbit / s LocalTalk was slower than the Centronics PC parallel interface, but allowed several computers to share a single LaserWriter.

The LaserWriter was the first major printer designed by Apple to use the new Snow White design language created by Frogdesign.

In 1988, to attempt to address the need for both an affordable printer and a professional printer, the LaserWriter II was designed to allow for complete replacement of the computer circuit board that operates the printer.

* For low-end users, there was the LaserWriter II SC, a host-based QuickDraw printer connected via SCSI that did not use PostScript and did not require a license from Adobe.

* The LaserWriter IIg had the capabilities of the IIf, and was also the first LaserWriter with a built-in Ethernet network interface.

The original edition of the book was written and typeset on an Apple Macintosh II and an Apple LaserWriter II NTX, while the software used was FullWrite Professional.

With an optional AppleTalk networking card installed, it was a low cost alternative to the vastly more expensive LaserWriter.

When Apple introduced the LaserWriter, its very high cost meant that the only cost-effective way to use it was shared among a small workgroup of Macintoshes.

It was a natural extension of Choose Printer to include the ability to select the LaserWriter and also which port was used to connect its network connection.

* For high-end users, the LaserWriter II NTX also included a SCSI controller for storage of printer fonts on a hard drive dedicated for use by the printer.

* The LaserWriter IIf had a faster processor than the IINTX, a newer version of PostScript and also HP PCL, and included the SCSI interface for font storage on an external hard drive

A fast 68000 in the Apple LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus, also the LaserWriter IInt ( all 300 dpi ).

A fast 68030 in later PostScript interpreters, including the standard resolution LaserWriter IIntx, IIf and IIg ( also 300 dpi ), the higher resolution LaserWriter Pro 600 series ( usually 600 dpi, but limited to 300 dpi with minimum RAM installed ) and the very high resolution Linotronic imagesetters, the 200PS ( 1500 + dpi ) and 300PS ( 2500 + dpi ).

He also designed the motherboard for Apple's LaserWriter, and designed a low cost version of the Apple II that eventually became the Apple IIe, using the same innovative design techniques that he pioneered with the Mac.

Other printer manufacturers adopted the 68000, including Apple with its introduction of the LaserWriter in 1985, the first PostScript laser printer.

At the time, Apple planned to release a suite of AppleTalk products as part of the Macintosh Office, with the LaserWriter being only the first component.

The LaserWriter became available for the first time shortly after the 512K's introduction, making home desktop publishing a possibility for the first time, although the LaserWriter's initial US $ 6, 995 price put it far out of the reach of most individuals.

The first HP LaserJet and the first Apple LaserWriter used the same print engine, the Canon CX engine.

Based on the AppleTalk protocol stack, LocalTalk connected the LaserWriter to the Mac over an RS-422 serial port.

Apple used it in the QMS PS 410 and the LaserWriter II-NTX.

In contrast, printer fonts for the popular Apple LaserWriter were based on PostScript Type 1 outlines, resulting in excellent output at all printer sizes, but failing on the 72 dot per inch Mac screens.

The initial Truetype outline fonts, four-weight families of Times Roman, Helvetica, Courier, and the Pi font replicated the original PostScript fonts of the Apple LaserWriter.

At introduction, the LaserWriter had the most processing power in Apple ’ s product line — more than the 8 MHz Macintosh.

Building on the success of the original LaserWriter, Apple developed many further models.

After the LaserWriter 8500, Apple discontinued the LaserWriter product line in 1997.

For a complete list of LaserWriter models, see the list of Apple LaserWriter models.

) The DTP market exploded in 1985 with the introduction in January of the Apple LaserWriter printer, and later in July with the introduction of PageMaker software from Aldus which rapidly became the DTP industry standard software.

However, the LaserWriter featured AppleTalk support that allowed the printer to be shared among as many as sixteen Macs, meaning that its per-user price could fall to under $ 450, far less expensive than HPs less-advanced model.

The combination of the LaserWriter, PostScript, PageMaker and the Mac's GUI and built-in AppleTalk networking would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.

* For midrange users, the LaserWriter II NT provided PostScript support and AppleTalk networking.

Eventually, the LaserWriter and other printers were capable of being connected using AppleTalk, Apple's built-in networking system.

A series of memos from Bob Belleville clarified these concepts, outlining the Mac, LaserWriter and a file server system which would become Macintosh Office.

However, the possibilities of the GUI / MacWrite / LaserWriter combination were obvious, and this in turn spurred the development of desktop publishing, which sealed the future for the Mac and GUI.

In particular, combined with the LaserWriter, the introduction of Aldus PageMaker software, which took full advantage of the extra RAM, revolutionized the publishing industry and solidified the Macintosh as the de-facto desktop publishing computer.

The sharing of an identical Canon engine in two competing products continued with the HP LaserJet II / III and the Apple LaserWriter II, which both used the Canon LBP-SX print engine.