Apple’s public emphasis on its use of metal additive manufacturing undoubtedly provides strong validation for the argument that additive manufacturing technologies are becoming increasingly mature and are evolving into viable methods for large-scale production. The latest iPhone Air incorporates the company’s first functional 3D-printed components, marking a significant shift in how complex metal parts can be mass-manufactured.
The USB-C port of the iPhone Air
Apple’s decision to adopt 3D printing technology for all Apple Watch Ultra 3 and titanium Series 11 cases is not merely a design choice—it represents a manufacturing milestone. It demonstrates Apple’s confidence in the stability, quality assurance, and repeatability of its additive manufacturing workflow, something no other consumer electronics brand has publicly achieved.
It is worth noting that Apple is now deploying Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) as a scalable manufacturing process across multiple product lines. For example, we’ve learned that each 3D printer used in this workflow contains six lasers operating simultaneously, building a watch case layer by layer—over 900 layers in total.
Even for industrial additive manufacturing providers producing hundreds of thousands or even millions of parts, achieving this level of laser coordination remains extremely challenging. Apple’s ability to combine such precision with a cosmetic-grade surface finish demonstrates an exceptional degree of process control—especially when working with recycled titanium powder.
Regarding powder atomization and oxygen management, Dr. J. Manjunathaiah, Senior Director of Manufacturing Design for Apple Watch and Vision products, noted: “During laser printing, powders with oxygen and powders without oxygen behave differently. So we had to find a way to reduce oxygen content.”
For experienced additive manufacturing professionals, this may be a familiar challenge. However, Apple’s ability to achieve such stability at its expected production volumes—using 50-micron powders and 60-micron layer thicknesses—indicates that the company has optimized not only its printing parameters, but the entire powder lifecycle, from atomization to depowdering to inspection.
XRF results obtained from the USB-C port
Although the explanation is already quite clear, some important facts remain undisclosed.
First, Apple describes the process as “scalable” and capable of replacing traditional manufacturing, yet it has not revealed how many titanium parts are actually produced per day or at each production site. For an industry still exploring the limits of additive manufacturing for mass production, such information is crucial.
Second, there is the issue of post-processing. Post-processing is one area that has seen significant advancements over the past decade. Gaining further insight into how Apple automates or streamlines the remaining bottlenecks in the LPBF workflow—such as single-part handling, optical inspection, and surface finishing—would undoubtedly accelerate the adoption of 3D printing in the consumer electronics sector. It would also help clarify the true extent of cost reduction achieved on each part.
From a platform perspective, Apple appears to be building a cross-product additive manufacturing ecosystem rather than pursuing isolated success stories. The Apple Watch case serves as a proving ground: it is an aesthetically refined, high-precision structure that demands tight tolerances and exceptional durability. Once this architecture is validated, Apple can extend it to more complex consumer products with similar requirements.
This carefully crafted roadmap is subtle yet unmistakable: Apple is not applying additive manufacturing to a single flagship product, but is instead elevating it into an enabling technology capable of driving design and manufacturing across multiple devices.
This shift is also reshaping the competitive landscape. If Apple has indeed achieved stable and scalable deployment of multi-laser LPBF technology, other consumer electronics manufacturers will be pressured to re-evaluate their machining-based production workflows.
If Apple continues down this path, it may become the first major electronics manufacturer to adopt additive manufacturing (AM) as a default production strategy rather than an exception—potentially redefining what “mass production” means over the next decade.
