The first time we read “Apple” and “3D printing” in the same sentence, we immediately thought “mass production”. That was for its iPhone Air. The tech giant did it again, this time with the new iPhone Duo.
Crafted from grade 5 titanium for incredible strength, with an enclosure that has an elegant mirror-polished finish, the iPhone integrates a 3D-printed hinge cover with a contrasting micro-blasted finish.
Built by taking into account Apple’s ambitious plan to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030, iPhone Duo is made with 35 percent recycled content overall, including 100% recycled cobalt in the battery and 100% recycled titanium in the 3D-printed hinge cover.
It is manufactured with 60 percent renewable energy, like wind and solar, across the supply chain, and meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency and safe chemistry.
Like all Apple products, its paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based and can be easily recycled at home.
The environment argument is legitimate, but it would be too easy to stop there.
While it might be easy to say that Apple has the means to achieve stable, multi-laser LPBF at this scale, it’s worth questioning the reason behind the use of the technology, given its expensive cost: was it used for aesthetic purpose? Or because it wasn’t possible to manufacture the covers otherwise.
That’s probably something we would need to investigate further.
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