While know what AirPrint does, I am confused about what it is. It claims to be a bunch of technology standards used together such as mDNS, IPP and multicasting. However, the term Bonjour is also thrown around as well, which also appears to be based on the same technologies. What makes it even more confusing is that Bonjour is just a rebrand of Rendezvous.
Is AirPrint a rebrand of Bonjour, the same way Bonjour is a rebrand of Rendezvous, or is AirPrint distinct from Bonjour?
Best Answer
AirPrint is the full protocol that allows a device to discover a printer and send a PDF over to it which is then printed.
Bonjour is the protocol that allows devices to discover each other and chat. AirPrint uses Bonjour.
A very rough and incorrect analogy is that AirPrint is to Bonjour, what an Internet Browser is to the Network connection.
Note: As PDF fully describes the pages to print, a traditional printer driver is not needed on the device.