Apple Is Taking a Close Look at 3D Aluminum Printing for Its New Products

While currently speculative, rumors suggest Apple is accelerating its adoption of additive manufacturing, specifically metal and aluminum 3D printing, across its product lineup. Building on last year’s successful use of 3D-printed titanium for the Apple Watch and the iPhone Air’s USB-C port, the company may now transition these techniques to other metals for products like its upcoming smartphone models.

This rumor is spreading quickly, just a few days after the official launch of the MacBook Neo, a laptop available for “only” €699 (and €599 for students), which is unheard of at Apple. In fact, the range usually starts at €1,000.

The MacBook Neo (Photo credits: Apple)

But what lies behind this new product? At first glance, the design remains similar, with a refined and lightweight construction. Of course, at this price point, you can’t expect the same performance as existing Macs. The MacBook Neo features an Apple A18 Pro chip, originally designed for the iPhone. So we can imagine that any heavy video work, software processing, or graphics applications will be limited. But Apple’s approach is interesting.