Mac OS 15.3 isn't compatible with HP 1022 Printer

[Vishesh999]

PC: Mac Mini 2025 with the M4 Chip

OS: Mac OS Sequoia 15.3

Printer: HP 1020 Plus LaserJet printer

Up until now I was using the 1022 Drivers on my old MacBook Pro and it worked like a charm. Tried downloading the latest drivers from the HP's official website, however, I was greeted with the error that the software requires Mac OS 15.0 or earlier. Here is the screenshot

I went through the forums and found this article where someone was facing a similar issue

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Setup-Software-Drivers/Laserjet-Printer-driver-won-t-open-on-M...

I tried downloading the laser jet essential drivers (Link Below) which was recommended in that post by FerRX,  the drivers were installed successfully, however 1022 is not listed in the installed drivers for me to select. 

• >> HP Laserjet essentials driver - S5_1484

ANY RECOMMENDATIONS / SUPPORT IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED.

Does HP have any plans on updating the driver package so that it would work with Mac OS 15.3 ?

[ferRX]

Hi @Vishesh999 

Try to install the next drivers:

• >> https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers/hp-laserjet-1020-printer-series/439423

* Click YES   to say thank you, 

* Click Accepted Solution when question is answered.

Best regards,

ferRX.

[Vishesh999]

hi @FerRX

Can you point me to the driver link on the official HP website? 

[ferRX]

Hi @Vishesh999 

You can download driver from the next HP website:

>> https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers/hp-laserjet-1020-printer-series/439423

• 

* Click YES   to say thank you, 

* Click Accepted Solution when question is answered.

Best regards,

ferRX.

[Vishesh999]

Hi @FerRX

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate you taking out the time to answer my queries.

As mentioned in my original post, the HP 1020 Plus drivers are available only for Windows or Linux, and not the MAC OS. I was using the 1022 Drivers on my old Mac which seemed to be compatible with 1020 Plus. However, I am unable to install 1022 Drivers for Mac OS 15.3, screenshot on the original post.

[Vishesh999 · Accepted solution]

So far I haven't had any luck installing the printer drivers natively on Mac OS 15.3, however, I am temporarily using a work around which isn't very elegant, however it gets the job done. It isn't something new, but thought this might be helpful to someone else trying facing a similar issue.

SOLUTION:

1. I had an old Apple AirPort Express wifi laying around which has a USB port. I connected the printer to that. I believe any wifi router with a USB port should work just fine.

2. On my old MacBook, which has an older operating system and compatible drivers directly from HP website, I added a Network Printer.

3. Enabled printer sharing on the same network. 

4. On my new Mac mini running Mac OS 15.3, connected to the same AirPort Express Wifi Network,

5. Added the printer which was earlier shared, and Voila, I am able to print without any issues.

Disadvantages:

1. The old MacBook & the AirPort Express Wifi Router needs to be turned on at all times when you want to print, since it acts as a printer server. You will not be able to print anything if it's turned off.

Alternative Solutions:

Use a Virtual Machine and enable printer sharing on the VM. So the idea is instead of having your old MacBook / PC on at all times, you can just run the VM in the background. However, this needs a lot of tinkering, and comes with its own set of challenges. I haven't had the time to get it up and working, tried a couple of things, here are a few issues I ran into:

1. Hypervisor Choices: There are essentially 2 Hypervisors which I am aware of and are dominant in the space, Parallels which is a paid version and probably not worth the price for this specific purpose. Parallels has 2 purchase options, either a one time fee, or a yearly subscription. One-Time-Purchase option doest guarantee compatibility with new versions of Mac OS, on the other hand yearly subscription costs over USD 100 a year. The other hypervisor is free, Virtual Box. I tried both.

2. Since the New Mac mini uses Apple Silicon, and is based on the ARM Architecture, the choice of operating systems you can install on Virtual Box are limited. You can install only ARM Based Operating Systems. I am not an expert, but Virtual Box gave me an error when I tried to install Windows which was based on AMD / Inter X86 Architecture. However, here is where Parallels shine, and it installed Windows in just one click.

3. Firstly I tried Parallels (Trial Version), Installed Windows 11 Successfully, however, it won't detect the USB Printer at all. Hp has compatible drivers for Windows 11, tried installing that as well, however, it just won't detect it. Tried to troubleshoot it for a while with no success.

4. Whereas on the Virtual Box, Installed Ubuntu Server ARM Version and a GUI. It detected the Printer almost instantly. The Operating system comes pre-installed with thousands of generic printer driver. It was able to detect the Printer Model, as well as chose the appropriate drivers and successfully installed them. However, when I tried to print a file, the OS showed that the Job was sent to the printer successfully, however there was no activity on the printer. Again, tried to troubleshoot, but had no luck.

The idea was simple, and I am pretty sure it would work, I just need to spend more time to figure it out. However,  after spending hours, I just went with the solution mentioned above that works and gets the job done. If anyone else is able to have the printer successfully working on a VM, please share your experience. 

[tronnei]

I like your solution. I've duplicated it without the need for an AirPort Express.

I connected the printer (a LaserJet 1018 that uses 1022 drivers) by USB directly to an old headless Mac mini running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. Got it running with the HP driver package for Snow Leopard. On the SL machine I turned on "Share this printer on the network" and also checked "Printer Sharing." The SL machine is connected to my wifi network.

On the M4 mini the HP printer is now available and printing works without a hitch.