Your next Apple Watch could be 3D printed

There’s a lot of excitement building ahead of Apple’s September event, where the brand is set to release its next iPhones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. In addition, the brand could also debut new wearables with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. At face value, the upcoming event seems like standard fare, with a new year bringing new mobile devices. But it appears that with this year’s release, Apple could be testing a new manufacturing process that utilizes 3D printing.

The news comes from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, sharing that Apple is currently testing a new 3D printing method for the steel version of the upcoming Apple Watch Series 9. For the end user this really doesn’t mean a lot because you’ll be getting the same product, but for Apple this kind be a game changer, saving it time, money, and resources when building its products. Although most of these benefits will come later down the line, this change will also help with the company’s sustainability efforts.

With a complex process like this, it isn’t something that Apple started doing overnight, and Gurman shares that the company has been developing this process for at least three years. While the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be produced using this new method, the company won’t completely shift to this new technique until next year. Furthermore, the source states that if this method of manufacturing is successful, then the process could be applied to some of its other products later on down the line.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to hear more about the building process of its latest devices during the event. Luckily, we won’t have to wait long to see these new products hit store shelves, with Apple’s next event scheduled to take place on September 12.