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Kuo: New Apple Watch Ultra to Launch This Year With 3D-Printed Parts
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This would only be cool, from a consumer perspective, if Apple releases templates users could use to print their own replacement parts. That would also align well with the market segment they are targeting the Ultra watch to. One where you are pushing it to its limits and might need to replace a part or two as a result.
Otherwise, it might make the watch feel cheap. But I’m sure it will be “3D printing” at a commercial scale that doesn’t align with what consumers have access too. They can 3D print whole buildings now and they are using obviously different materials than plastic like a consumer 3D printer.
Otherwise, it might make the watch feel cheap. But I’m sure it will be “3D printing” at a commercial scale that doesn’t align with what consumers have access too. They can 3D print whole buildings now and they are using obviously different materials than plastic like a consumer 3D printer.
Apple always reducing costs, increasing profit margin and following that up with an increase in price for the products.
Don't worry, fan boys here only hate Elon Musk though.
Didn't Apple claim to save the planet by removing the Power Adaptor then charging you $20 to buy one? Oh wait, no thats okay. How dare Elon charge $9 a month to those that want a blue check mark?! Something that isn't even needed or required to use Twitter effectively unlike a power adaptor.
Don't worry, fan boys here only hate Elon Musk though.
Didn't Apple claim to save the planet by removing the Power Adaptor then charging you $20 to buy one? Oh wait, no thats okay. How dare Elon charge $9 a month to those that want a blue check mark?! Something that isn't even needed or required to use Twitter effectively unlike a power adaptor.
That’s great, Apple!
Now just 3D-print it in a smaller size
Now just 3D-print it in a smaller size
It's still a good thing for you even if the retail price stays the same. If Apple can save money manufacturing, they can put that money to better use on R&D, design, engineering, software, services...
I can appreciate that you don’t want to spend $800, but, compared to a S8 SS with a sports band, which is $750, it’s really a bargain. Of course you can argue that a SS is overpriced, but…
Yup, most people here don’t really understand what all goes into the cost of a product…
Who has a metal sintering printer at home?
As someone who spent the last four years working with industrial metal 3D printing, I know Apple is working with additive in other capacities. It would be interesting to see a fully printed product chassis. A luxury watch company contracted us to print some bodies for them, and they turned out well in various materials. But that company charges $8000 for their lower-end models, if I recall correctly.
If you read my second paragraph, you can see that metal 3D printing has a high bar of entry. Over the years, I've seen quality printers hit around $200k, which is great. The nice part about the industry is the ability to contract a build for prototyping, then determine whether it's cost-effective to move forward with. There's another technology in the realm better known as pellet additive manufacturing, and it's similar to injection molding. It has a high initial cost of creating molds, but grants mass production volume of a dedicated part at a far better cost than laser powder bed fusion. There's a newer technology aiming to print bigger parts very fast called cold spray. In summation, additive is still rather young, and there is a lot of competition and innovation in the space, unlike consumer electronics. I strongly suggest following if you're remotely interested in hobby 3D printing or product design.
Most definitely. The lower cost machines at my employer were ~$500k, needed transformers etc, roughly cost $250/hr to operate, and had wide variety of material cost. We also produced and sold our own materials. Some precious metals would fetch $15000/kg. Tack on post-processing afterward.... my Ender 3 doesn't hold a candle.
Others have clarified, but I want you to know they are both manufacturing; 3D printing is additive, machining is subtractive. @Bleuperrr also noted that printed titanium exhibits better properties than machined. Material science is a huge part of additive manufacturing, you can achieve far better results in various parameters by adjusting a small chemical composition. Better surface finish, faster printing times, higher conductivity, ductility, and more. Let alone printing geometries that are otherwise impossible to achieve, which revolutionizes product design and prototyping.
If you read my second paragraph, you can see that metal 3D printing has a high bar of entry. Over the years, I've seen quality printers hit around $200k, which is great. The nice part about the industry is the ability to contract a build for prototyping, then determine whether it's cost-effective to move forward with. There's another technology in the realm better known as pellet additive manufacturing, and it's similar to injection molding. It has a high initial cost of creating molds, but grants mass production volume of a dedicated part at a far better cost than laser powder bed fusion. There's a newer technology aiming to print bigger parts very fast called cold spray. In summation, additive is still rather young, and there is a lot of competition and innovation in the space, unlike consumer electronics. I strongly suggest following if you're remotely interested in hobby 3D printing or product design.
The big advantage of 3D printing, as far as major manufacturing is concerned, is that it can collapse particularly long supply chains - of which Apple products are the classic examples.
I’m willing to bet that the parts mentioned in this article are each made in separate factories. Now, they can be co-located not just in one factory, but in a factory that is producing something else in the supply chain. Thats 4 steps on the supply chain collapsed to 1.
Now, extrapolate from there to everything else along the supply chain, and all of a sudden, production processes that span the globe can collapse into just a small number of countries.
I’m willing to bet that the parts mentioned in this article are each made in separate factories. Now, they can be co-located not just in one factory, but in a factory that is producing something else in the supply chain. Thats 4 steps on the supply chain collapsed to 1.
Now, extrapolate from there to everything else along the supply chain, and all of a sudden, production processes that span the globe can collapse into just a small number of countries.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you mean to tell me the BILLIONS they have in cash right now isn't enough to do all of the above? HAHAHAHAHA
I appreciate your optimism, but assuming every day consumers could afford LPBF printers (let alone afford a house or shop with a big enough room to hold such) I'd say Apple wouldn't give out .stl files of their products, disclose material/post-processing vendors, or parameter sets. It would be similar to Apple making schematics available, rather than sending legal.
I can assure you that metal 3D printing done right feels no less quality than all of the other metal objects you interact with.
Apple Watch is in need of an upgrade program, on a 2-4 year basis. Or annual for those who want it. Apple Watch resale values plummet in my experience, while iPhones hold value pretty well. Some may say Apple Watch has too few changes annually, so I think three years would be the sweet spot. iPhones have very few changes annually too, so it's not like the iPhone Upgrade Program makes any more sense.
“One Moment” “one sec” “on it”. “I'm terribly sorry, but I can't take requests right now”. “I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that”. “Sorry!” 🤡
I would like to buy the high end one, and pay Apple with 3D printed cash.
Great marketing, this is what they gonna tell you. Apple's hardware and production teams have developed and intensively worked together to recreate the way how we make our products and we call it Vision Printing (aka 3D Printing) it enables us to virtually make anything in any shape with premium materials and very high tolerance, even higher than we do with our incredible iPhones, Macbook Pros and Vision Pro. We enter the new age of picometers even surpassing our Apple chips like the A-Chips in iPhone and iPad and M-Chips in our powerful unrivalled Macbook Pros.
(And you feel it in your wallet).
(And you feel it in your wallet).
Metal printing can easily be used to achieve the same fit and finish, but can also make structures that you cannot do with subtractive manufacturing (cnc).
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You assume that 3D printed parts cannot be robust or even better than their counterparts produced normally. 3D printing has come a LONG way, and isn't just plastics.
Edit: For anyone worried, you can see what Czinger does with 3D printed parts on their 21C "hypercar".
Czinger 21C - Wikipedia
Oh ffs already. 🙄 Have my launch day Ultra and it’s not going any where soon.
Anual “update”. Same features, 3D printed titanium?. what is the value of Ultra 2?
Some questions I'm very curious about:
1) I believe the standard Ti alloy used in watches is Ti 6Al-4V. Would they use the same alloy for 3D printing small watch parts?
2) Assuming they're using the same alloy: What are the differences in relevant physical properties (tensile strength, Young's modulus, hardness, brittleness, isotropicity) between machined and 3D printed Ti? And to the extent there are differences, what causes them? E.g., are there specific differences in crystal structure or grain boundaries that would explain them, and what would be the mechanism by which 3D printing yields such differences?
I'm particularly curious about how the physical properties of 3D printed Ti change at the layer boundaries. E.g., is the metal more subject to shearing at these boundaries than it is within the layers?
3) The usual advantage of 3D printing over machining is that the former enables the creation of much more complex shapes. But that doesn't seem to apply here, since watch crowns, etc. should be easy to machine. Does that mean 3D printing of Ti 6Al-4V has reached the point where it's more economical for small parts?
[Without knowing anything about the economics of either process, it does seem plausible that the smaller the part is, the more the economics would favor printing over machining, and that this would be particularly true for sub - 1mm parts, i.e., those that would otherwise need micromachining—at least down to comfortable working limit of 3D printing.]
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