Apple is hoping to 3D-print aluminum device enclosures in the future, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
In today’s “Power On” newsletter, Gurman revealed that Apple is pushing to move to 3D-printed aluminum enclosures for for future devices. The MacBook Neo relies on a new aluminum manufacturing process that saves as much metal as possible to drive down costs and speed up production.
3D-printing aluminum enclosures would similarly enable Apple to save material and increase efficiency. The process is likely to come to the Apple Watch first, and potentially the iPhone at a later date.
The process is a follow-up to Apple’s 3D-printed titanium technique, which debuted with the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Apple’s manufacturing design and operations departments are collaborating on the project.
Popular Stories
First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In: Here’s How It Compares to the M1 MacBook Air
Benchmarks for the new MacBook Neo surfaced today, and unsurprisingly, CPU performance is almost identical to the iPhone 16 Pro. The MacBook Neo uses the same 6-core A18 Pro chip that was first introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro, but it has one fewer GPU core. The MacBook Neo earned a single-core score of 3461 and a multi-core score of 8668, along with a Metal score of 31286. Here’s how the…
New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Are Still Missing, Here’s Why
Apple this week unveiled seven products, ranging from the iPhone 17e to the MacBook Neo, but new Apple TV and HomePod mini models were not among them. Given that there have been rumors about the next-generation Apple TV and HomePod mini since all the way back in late 2024, some customers are wondering why the devices have yet to launch, and the answer likely relates to Siri. In September, …
Apple Announces $599 ‘MacBook Neo’ With A18 Pro Chip
Apple today announced the “MacBook Neo,” an all-new kind of low-cost Mac featuring the A18 Pro chip for $599. The MacBook Neo is the first Mac to be powered by an iPhone chip; the A18 Pro debuted in 2024’s iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple says it is up to 50% faster for everyday tasks than the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5, up to 3x faster for on-device AI workloads,…