Apple Watch Ultra supplier will reportedly 3D print some mechanical parts

With a new Apple Watch Ultra expected to be announced this year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back with another report regarding Apple’s wearable for adventurers. According to Kuo, Apple is “actively adopting 3D printing technology, and it’s expected that some of the titanium mechanical parts of the 2H23 new Apple Watch Ultra will be made by 3D printing.”

The analyst notes that even though Apple could switch some parts, the device will still have to go through the CNC process for back-end processes. Kuo says that this change can “improve the production time and reduce the production cost,” although it doesn’t mean Apple will make the watch cheaper.

Ming-Chi Kuo says that IPG Photonics will be the exclusive supplier of laser components, and the printer suppliers are Farsoon and BLT. “If shipments go well, I believe more Apple products will adopt 3D printing technology, which will help improve production cost and ESG performance in Apple’s supply chain, and the above-mentioned suppliers will also benefit from this new production trend.”

This report comes a few weeks after Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter that Apple is planning to launch two Apple Watch Series 9 sizes and second-gen Apple Watch Ultra codenamed N207, N208, and N210), which will launch alongside the iPhone 15 series this fall.

While Gurman didn’t prove any details about this upcoming Apple Watch Ultra, he previously reported that Apple is planning to add a faster chip to the new Apple Watch models. Ever since the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple has been using a similar processor, with tweaks that don’t change speed.

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