MFC-J1012DW
The Brother MFC-J1012DW is the second model on Brother's official LC401 list — a near-twin of the J1010DW in name, and a separate model listing here as on Brother's own page. It takes two tiers of the same family: LC401 Standard Yield (200 pages per cartridge) and LC401XL High Yield (500 pages per cartridge), rated in accordance with ISO/IEC 24711. The Clever Supplies compatible singles and sets below — standard and XL — are chipped for this printer and carry a lifetime warranty.
| Cartridge | Type | Color | Approx. Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brother LC401BK (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Black | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401C (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Cyan | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401M (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Magenta | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401Y (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Yellow | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401 Set of 4 (compatible) | Standard Yield full cartridge set | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 200 pages per cartridge |
| Brother LC401XLBK (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Black | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLC (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Cyan | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLM (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Magenta | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLY (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Yellow | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XL Set of 4 (compatible) | XL High Yield full cartridge set | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 500 pages per cartridge |
| Brother LC401XL Set of 9 (compatible) | XL High Yield bulk set (3 Black + 2 per color) | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 500 pages per cartridge |
MFC-J1012DW Ink — Two Tiers, and Three Families It Is Not
On the MFC-J1012DW, which tier you buy follows how fast each slot empties. The LC401 family comes as Standard Yield — LC401BK, LC401C, LC401M, LC401Y at 200 pages per cartridge — for light use, and XL High Yield — LC401XLBK, LC401XLC, LC401XLM, LC401XLY at 500 pages per cartridge, rated in accordance with ISO/IEC 24711 — for daily work. The tiers mix by slot, so a busy black position can run XL beside standard colors. Brother's official list has exactly three printers for this family, and the MFC-J1012DW is one of them.
The family decision matters more than the tier one, because the LC40x generation has four look-alike branches and three of them never fit the MFC-J1012DW: LC402 (A3 office), LC404 (small INKvestment) and LC406 (large INKvestment) cartridges carry different bodies and fit none of these printers. One listing trap, flagged plainly: some sellers add the MFC-J1800DW to this family; Brother's official LC401 page does not list it, so it is not claimed for the MFC-J1012DW's cartridges either.
The MFC-J1012DW is a near-twin of the MFC-J1010DW in name, and a separate model listing here, as on Brother’s own page — the cartridges are the same, the listing is its own.
Which LC401 should you buy?
- Light use — Standard singles: black $10.49, cyan, magenta and yellow $8.99 each; the Set of 4 is $29.94 (200 pages per cartridge).
- Everyday use — XL singles: black, cyan, magenta and yellow at $14.99 each (500 pages per cartridge).
- Sets: the LC401XL Set of 4 ($50.94) for a full XL refresh, or the Set of 9 ($103.82, 3 black + 2 of each color) for a stocked shelf.
Chip, ink and everyday use
Each position on the MFC-J1012DW is its own purchase decision: every cartridge here carries a new compatible chip, and a standard color and an XL color can sit side by side in the same printer, so you step the fast-draining slot up to XL first and leave the slow ones standard. Brother's official “Cannot Detect Ink Volume” page names this generation and warns that with non-genuine ink the machine may or may not detect the ink volume; no official Brother statement that a firmware update blocks these cartridges was found, and none is claimed on this page. Lifetime warranty with 1-year free returns on every cartridge.