The Sonoma 14.4 update is causing more problems, this time with printers by removing or corrupting the drivers needed to print, and there is not yet a comprehensive solution to the issue.
The latest macOS Sonoma update is breaking printers
We recently learned of an issue where updating macOS to Sonoma 14.4 caused some USB hubs embedded in monitors to stop working. Now, it looks like macOS Sonoma 14.4 is breaking printers, too.
Reports have begun rolling in on Reddit and the Apple Community forums, where users note that after updating their Macs, they no longer could print.
According to a post on Reddit, it seems that macOS Sonoma 14.4 removes the core CUPS software, leaving no way for the printer and Mac to interface.
Redditor nicover84 says that, according to some JAMF discussion groups, the issue could be caused by Microsoft Defender. Some users say that granting full disk access to com.microsoft.dlp.daemon in Privacy & Security settings either locally or with a JAMF config profile fixes the problem.
Initial reports seem focused on users with HP printers. Commonalities between the reports aren't clear -- Microsoft Defender isn't the only cause, nor is the use of JAMF mobile device management software.
For the time being, if you print routinely from your Mac it may be wise to wait to update if you haven't already. The update in question was released on March 7.