Can I trust the driver/software installer downloaded from https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1888?locale=en_GB?

Question

I am trying to install the printer driver for the printer HP LaserJet M1005 MFP on MacOS Big Sur.

I tried many ways and followed HP official website guide. But none of them works. (This may because the printer model is old. The provided driver does not install on Big Sur. New recommended way of using HP Easy Start.app and HP Smart.app don't work on this model too)

Now, I found out an installer file which may work at https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1888?locale=en_GB

The page does NOT have many information (the file's author etc) and I never use and download anything from https://support.apple.com/kb/. I don't know if anyone can upload files to https://support.apple.com/kb/ or not.

So basically, can I trust that installer from the above apple support link? Is that an official file uploaded by some apple employee officially?

Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

Yes, you can trust it. Only Apple can upload files to support.apple.com. Most of the software there is Apple-authored, although in a few cases I think there may be some third-party software that Apple has decided to supply via their server (but in those cases, I'm pretty sure Apple has checked them thoroughly). The kb page can also be found via https://support.apple.com/downloads/hp.

Also, if you download the the disk image, open it, and then open the installer package inside it, the Installer application will show a padlock in the top right of its window indicating that the package is signed. Click the padlock, and it'll show that it's signed with Apple's "Software Update" certificate. See the "Check Installer packages" section here for a similar screenshot (and lots more discussion about verifying code signatures).