Editing LaserWriter (section)

===Hardware===
The LaserWriter used the same Canon CX printing engine as the HP LaserJet, and as a consequence early LaserWriters and LaserJets shared the same toner cartridges and paper trays.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/CX-Catalog/CX-AppLW-LWPlus.html |title=Printerworks.com: Apple LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus Printers |access-date=January 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801183228/http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/CX-Catalog/CX-AppLW-LWPlus.html |url-status=live }}</ref> PostScript is a complete [[programming language]] that has to be run in a suitable [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] and then sent to a software rasterizer program, all inside the printer. To support this, the LaserWriter featured a [[Motorola 68000]] [[central processing unit|CPU]] running at 12&nbsp;[[Megahertz|MHz]], 512&nbsp;KB of workspace [[Random-access memory|RAM]], and a 1&nbsp;MB frame buffer.<ref>[http://support.apple.com/kb/sp472 "LaserWriter: Technical Specifications"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165439/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP472 |date=August 11, 2011 }}, Apple</ref>

At introduction, the LaserWriter had the most processing power in Apple's product line&mdash;more than the 8&nbsp;MHz Macintosh. As a result, the LaserWriter was also one of Apple's most expensive offerings. For implementation purposes, the LaserWriter employed a small number of medium-scale-integration [[Monolithic Memories]] [[Programmable Array Logic|PAL]]s, and no custom [[Integrated circuit#LSI|LSI]], whereas the LaserJet employed a large number of small-scale-integration [[Texas Instruments]] [[7400 series|74-Series]] gates, and one custom LSI. The LaserWriter was, thereby, in the same form factor (for its [[Raster image processor|RIP]]), able to provide much greater function, and, indeed, much greater performance, all within the very same LBP-CX form factor, although the external packaging was, for marketing purposes, somewhat different.