{"id":335683,"date":"2026-03-08T17:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/335683\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:38:08","slug":"apple-is-reportedly-looking-into-3d-printing-aluminum-iphones-and-apple-watches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/335683\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple is reportedly looking into 3D printing aluminum iPhones and Apple Watches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">There could be even more 3D-printed Apple products coming in the future. According to <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2026-03-08\/apple-to-expand-ultra-lines-after-599-macbook-neo-3d-printed-aluminum-imacs-mmhpa12d\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bloomberg;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">Bloomberg<\/a>&#8216;s Mark Gurman, Apple is exploring ways to 3D print aluminum to make the manufacturing processes for iPhones and Apple Watches more efficient.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gurman reported that this new production process could specifically change how Apple makes its watch casings as well as iPhone enclosures. It&#8217;s not the first time Apple has tapped into 3D printing, since both the <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/wearables\/apple-watch-ultra-3-a-closer-look-at-its-satellite-communications-tools-120012387.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Apple Watch Ultra 3;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Watch Ultra 3<\/a> and Series 11 were partially built with <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.apple.com\/newsroom\/2025\/11\/mapping-the-future-with-3d-printed-titanium-apple-watch-cases\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:3D-printed titanium;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">3D-printed titanium<\/a> that&#8217;s 100 percent recycled. More recently, Apple used its 3D printing process to create the titanium USB-C port for the <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/mobile\/smartphones\/iphone-air-review-thinness-with-purpose-120037520.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:iPhone Air;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">iPhone Air<\/a>, which was touted as thinner, stronger and more environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While Apple is reportedly only looking into 3D-printed aluminum right now, it could possibly result in an overall cheaper manufacturing process and lower starting prices for iPhones. Looking at Apple&#8217;s just-announced <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/computing\/laptops\/the-599-macbook-neo-is-apples-cheapest-mac-laptop-yet-141028666.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:MacBook Neo;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MacBook Neo<\/a>, the company introduced a new manufacturing process that saves on the amount of aluminum used, helping to achieve the $599 starting price for its latest entry-level laptop. Like the colorful MacBook Neo, Gurman also reported that Apple is planning to use a &#8220;refreshed color palette&#8221; for its <a data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/computing\/apple-m4-imac-review-the-best-all-in-one-gets-a-lot-faster-173055294.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:iMac;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">iMac<\/a> reveal later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There could be even more 3D-printed Apple products coming in the future. According to Bloomberg&#8216;s Mark Gurman, Apple&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[154345,936,61,60,154344,1314,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-335683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-3d-print","9":"tag-apple","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-manufacturing-processes","13":"tag-mark-gurman","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}