Injection molding

Apple waited ten years before turning 3D printing from a prototyping tool into a production process.

The Starting Point: Apple Watch Cases

In November 2025, Apple announced that the cases of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the titanium Series 11 are entirely manufactured using 3D printing, with 100% recycled titanium powder. Each printer is equipped with six lasers, printing layer by layer over 900 times, with a layer thickness of 60 microns. The biggest gain is material efficiency: compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing, raw material usage is cut in half. Sarah Chandler, Apple's Vice President of Environment, said: "With the material that used to make one case, we can now make two." In 2025 alone, this saved over 400 tons of virgin titanium.

The Extension: The USB-C Port on iPhone Air

When iFixit teardown engineers examined the port, they found a chain-link texture at the 50-micron scale, pointing to a pulsed laser ablation process. Apple did not confirm the specific term, but confirmed the use of multi-laser equipment to build hundreds of layers of titanium structures. This shows that Apple's 3D printing is not a single process, but a flexible combination of technologies tailored to each component's needs.

The Core Breakthrough: The iPhone Duo Hinge Cover

In the foldable phone released in September 2026, the hinge cover is 3D-printed from 100% recycled Grade 5 titanium. This is the first time Apple has used 3D printing for a "large part" in a phone—and at the most demanding moving joint. The hinge consists of over 100 precision components, with embedded titanium plates and ceramic fiber inserts. During production, confocal laser scanning is also used, printing up to 25 layers of customized photosensitive polymer micro-layers to eliminate surface ripples, with AI matching the most fitting shell for each hinge.

Why It Works Now

Costs have come down. Titanium alloy powder prices have dropped from a peak of around 3,000 yuan per kilogram to the 200–300 yuan range, while equipment with more lasers and higher scanning speeds has significantly optimized per-unit costs. The application position has also shifted: from watch cases to ports to hinges, 3D printing has moved from the periphery to the core of Apple's products. Lingyi iTech stated that its per-unit value on the iPhone Duo is "several times that of a bar phone."

The ten-year observation period is over. When a 3D-printed part appears at the most critical joint of a foldable phone, it is no longer an experiment—it is a choice.