Many smart devices today come with aluminium casings. But it’s not often you hear of them being 3D-printed. But that looks like what Apple is working towards, in an effort to make the process save as much metal as possible to cut costs down, while also speeding up production.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says in the weekly Power On newsletter that this is a follow-up of two exiting processes. One is used for making the iPhone chip-powered MacBook Neo. Gurman says Apple uses a new but undefined aluminium manufacturing manufacturing process aimed as saving as much metal as possible. 3D-printing aluminium will be an advancement of that.
Another can be found with the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Gurman claims that the titanium body on the smartwatch is already 3D-printed. With these in mind, 3D-printing aluminium would be a logical next step. Like with the titanium, chances are the bitten fruit brand aims to use the new process to improve efficiency in its making of the Watches first. He also cites sources who say that the process may one day be used for iPhone enclosures as well.
Improving Material Efficiency
As mentioned, Apple is looking to save as much metal as possible with 3D-printing. As you can imagine, using the traditional method of CNC machining means taking a whole block and carving out the shape you want. And that process creates a lot of wasted metal. 3D-printing instead gives you the shape you want right away, leaving less waste to be recycled. AppleInsider claims that this can lead to up to 50% of material savings compared to machining.
Due to the properties of the metal though, 3D-printing aluminium comes with its own challenges. Compared to titanium, it’s more thermally conductive, meaning it cools down faster. This could cause issues like warping and cracking unless temperatures during the process are perfectly controlled.
Of course, while Apple will be able to cut down costs once it has figured out the process, it remains to be seen if these savings are passed to the consumer. But at the very least it could potentially stave off price hikes.
(Source: Bloomberg, AppleInsider)
