iPhone Air Features 3D-Printed Titanium USB-C Port With Three Benefits

[MacRumors]

In the environment section of its iPhone Air press release this week, Apple revealed that the device is equipped with a 3D-printed titanium USB-C port.

Apple said the 3D-printed titanium USB-C port offers three benefits compared to one manufactured with a conventional forging process: it is thinner, stronger, and uses 33% less material to be more environmentally friendly.

3D printing for metal is also known as metal additive manufacturing, a process that involves creating objects layer by layer with powdered metal, based on a CAD model.

Despite this manufacturing innovation, the iPhone Air's USB-C port is limited to outdated USB 2 speeds of up to 480 Mb/s for wired data transfer.

Titanium cases for Apple Watch Ultra 3 and higher-end Apple Watch Series 11 models are also made with a 3D-printing process that uses half the raw material as previous generations of each device, according to Apple's announcements.

iPhone Air can be pre-ordered starting this Friday at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, while the new Apple Watch models are available to pre-order now, in the U.S. and many other countries. All of the devices are set to launch Friday, September 19.

Article Link: iPhone Air Features 3D-Printed Titanium USB-C Port With Three Benefits

 

[rotvaldi]

Bro 2028 3D printed Aluminum USB ports

 

[turbineseaplane]

Glad they were able to make a super thin phone and stlll use a USB-C port.

Looks like it didn't actually "kill innovation" to simply adopt the worldwide standard.

They still have the option to go even thinner with totally port-less, which I expect them to try at some point also.

 

[Lwii2boo]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

 

[vertsix]

"...it's also cheaper! Which helps out our BOM cost and margins!"

 

[Robert.Walter]

I find it interesting that it is claimed to be stronger ... that seems unusual since forging processes are renowned for work hardening metals, and aligning grain patterns, and I've never seen any information (haven't looked for it though) that posits objects made with printed metals are stronger than the same objects being forged and run through a clean-up machining process.

I'd think that printed metal objects significantly reduce engineered waste, a/k/a offal, coming from final machining processes (and thus cost) but unless the old forging process was limited somehow, I'm not feeling it.

A part of my career had to do with bulk deformation processes, i.e. cold forging of steel, so my knowledge of titanium's oddities and limitations is limited (although I recall, Porsche Design had to go through a learning curve when they started using Titanium for their consumer products because of a kind of "spring back" effect that Ti apparently had.

Anybody here with knowledge or experience regarding Ti forging or machining? It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on the hardness via printing vs forging topic.

 

[vertsix]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

25 as of this recent April!

 

[krspkbl]

3d printed just screams cheap low quality to me. I'm sure "titanium" or "metal" 3d printing is more advanced than the tacky cheap plastic **** most people 3D print with but c'mon.

 

[thadoggfather]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

I'm not defending it, but it's worth pointing out the non pro iPhone 16's from last year are also USB2


..edit: so is regular iPhone 17, just reviewed specs.

 

[mystery hill]

The USB-C port on iPhone Air doesn’t support DisplayPort for video output to an external monitor or TV.

 

[bzgnyc2]

Glad they were able to make a super thin phone and stlll use a USB-C port.

Looks like it didn't actually "kill innovation" to simply adopt the worldwide standard.

They still have the option to go even thinner with totally port-less, which I expect them to try at some point also.

I was with you up until the port-less...

The thing about thinner is that it shrinks a dimension I wasn't really pressed about. Like if someone took an Hummer H1 and said, 'hey let's drop the roof'. I never felt the need for anything thinner than the iPhone SE 2016, etc (i.e. 0.3"). After that it's the other dimensions (and the camera bump) which get in the way.

 

[rotax]

I do not know if it has been observed elsewhere in other articles / posts about the iPhone Air, but does it not seem obvious that this model would be a necessary first step in creating an iPhone Fold model? Two of these case designs hinged together with a folding screen? Challenges like the inclusion of this space optimized USB-C port being enabled are likely one of many needed in a future Apple Fold model.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I was with you up until the port-less...

The thing about thinner is that it shrinks a dimension I wasn't really pressed about. Like if someone took an Hummer H1 and said, 'hey let's drop the roof'. I never felt the need for anything thinner than the iPhone SE 2016, etc (i.e. 0.3"). After that it's the other dimensions (and the camera bump) which get in the way.

I'm not advocating for it personally (Port-less) -- I just expect them to try it at some point.

 

[Belisama]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

Sorry for being ignorant, but could someone explain why USB speed is so important for iPhones?
I got multiple iPhones since 3GS and I have never been worried about the USB version...

 

[Mactech20]

I think the only thing holding me back from really wanting this air is the lack of .5 zoom and that USB 2 speed.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Sorry for being ignorant, but could someone explain why USB speed is so important for iPhones?
I got multiple iPhones since 3GS and I have never been worried about the USB version...

Same as I haven't used the port for transfer since you used to have to sync your iPhone to iTunes for backup, which was what 10-15 years ago?

But the reason some use it is to transfer media from their phones to their computer, such as large video files. I would think this is easily done over the internet/cloud sharing but it is important to some people apparently.

 

[raythompsontn]

could someone explain why USB speed is so important for iPhones

For the same reason a 48 Megapixel sensor is important on a device with a lens that can only resolve 8 megapixels. Marketing hype.

 

[Scotty_Trees]

The Air is such a rip off. You can get any other iPhone in this new lineup and already have a better phone than the Air. Only lemmings will buy the air.

 

[Lwii2boo]

Sorry for being ignorant, but could someone explain why USB speed is so important for iPhones?
I got multiple iPhones since 3GS and I have never been worried about the USB version...

If you want to transfer/copy big files/videos etc from your phone to another device (or the other way around) it's infinitely faster than AirDrop/BT etc. Also for those who want to do a local backup of their phone on their computer (Apple Device app on Windows 11 for instance). You can copy a whole 512 GB "Pro" phone in 10-20 min vs 3 hours with USB 2 for instance.

 

[spunkystrawberries]

Same as I haven't used the port for transfer since you used to have to sync your iPhone to iTunes for backup, which was what 10-15 years ago?

But the reason some use it is to transfer media from their phones to their computer, such as large video files. I would think this is easily done over the internet/cloud sharing but it is important to some people apparently.

I’m similar to y’all. I really only plug my phone in to charge when I’m not doing it with MagSafe. If I were in a situation of needing faster transfer speeds for video or whatever, I’d most likely be using a beefier device that could capture higher quality video anyway. Otherwise, AirDrop or cloud is fine for me.

Personally I’d be okay with a port-less phone as it’s just one more hole in my device that gets gunky over time. lol

 

[CapitalIdea]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

How often do normal consumers use the port for anything but charging? Seriously.

 

[Anaxarxes]

USB gen 2 is over 20 years old. It's still capped at 480 Mb/s for the planet not profit margin surely. Thanks Tim !

Connecting the phone to you computer and transfer files / use it for file storage regularly as in every day?

 

[spunkystrawberries]

Also for those who want to do a local backup of their phone on their computer (Apple Device app on Windows 11 for instance). You can copy a whole 512 GB "Pro" phone in 10-20 min vs 3 hours with USB 2 for instance.

Ahhh, local backups. This is a good example. I hadn’t thought about that. I’m typically a cloud guy myself.

 

[chewbaka]

Sorry for being ignorant, but could someone explain why USB speed is so important for iPhones?
I got multiple iPhones since 3GS and I have never been worried about the USB version...

It isnt.

 

[Anaxarxes]

3d printed just screams cheap low quality to me. I'm sure "titanium" or "metal" 3d printing is more advanced than the tacky cheap plastic **** most people 3D print with but c'mon.

To you, yes.