Why the iPhone Air signals a shifting perspective on 3D printing.
When Apple unveiled the iPhone Air this fall, most headlines focused on its lighter weight and sleeker design. But one detail buried in the technical reviews caught the eye of engineers worldwide: the titanium USB-C port was 3D printed. For most consumers, it was a footnote. For the manufacturing world, it was a milestone. Additive manufacturing (AM) has officially gone mainstream.
This isn’t the first time AM has been in the spotlight. During the pandemic, manufacturers rushed to 3D print ventilator parts and PPE to plug critical supply gaps. Those efforts were lifesaving, but temporary. What we’re seeing now isn’t emergency stopgaps; manufacturers are making deliberate choices to use AM because it delivers something traditional methods can’t: lighter, stronger, and more complex products that were once impossible to produce.
From breakthrough to baseline
For decades, AM was viewed as a novelty, useful for prototypes but not yet production-ready. Today, that narrative has changed. Aerospace leaders print mission-critical turbine components. Automotive OEMs produce lightweight brackets and tooling in-house. And now, the consumer electronics industry is shipping mainstream devices with additive-made parts.
This shift comes down to two things: performance and practicality. Designers are leveraging the freedom of AM to integrate functions, consolidate parts, and reduce weight without compromising strength. At the same time, the ecosystem has matured. Printers, materials, and digital workflows are reaching a level of repeatability and traceability that gives manufacturers real confidence in the ability to scale AM.
Access without overhaul
A common misconception is that adopting AM requires ripping and replacing everything on the shop floor. The reality is far more approachable. Even small or legacy operations can begin with targeted applications: a jig here, a fixture there, or replacement tooling that would otherwise take weeks to source. For many companies, the first additive parts aren’t end-use components at all, but enablers of faster, more cost-effective conventional production.
Hybrid workflows are also opening doors. By combining additive manufacturing with CNC machining, manufacturers can push the limits of geometry while still relying on the proven processes and skilled workers they already have. For example, a part can be produced using a Directed Energy Deposition (DED) process and then CNC-finished in the same machine, streamlining production and improving precision.
The sequence can also be reversed for repair applications: first, machine away the damaged area, then rebuild it additively, and finally, finish the restored surface through CNC machining. In more advanced cases, a multi-step hybrid process can alternate between 3D printing and machining to create inner geometries – such as cooling channels – by building and finishing each layer while those internal features remain open and accessible to cutting tools.
Digital integration makes this journey even smoother. Digital reality platforms connect design, simulation, and inspection in one environment, helping teams validate part performance virtually before committing to a build. By embedding process monitoring and quality checks into every step, manufacturers can move toward first-time-right outcomes without excessive trial and error.
Case studies in progress
At Hexagon, we’ve seen AM’s impact across industries. Airbus, for example, has leveraged additive technologies in collaboration with Hexagon and partners to produce optimized, flight-ready brackets, achieving substantial performance improvements while streamlining production. These parts are already flying today, demonstrating how far AM has come from the days of prototypes.
In the energy sector, a global OEM used AM to maintain uptime during a critical disruption, printing replacement components in-house rather than waiting on delayed shipments. This agility not only kept operations online but also highlighted how AM can strengthen supply chain resilience.
While aerospace and energy often get the spotlight, the principles apply everywhere. Even consumer-facing industries are realizing how AM can accelerate design-to-market cycles, helping engineers test and validate ideas in days rather than months.
Why this time is different
Additive manufacturing’s current wave isn’t about hype. It’s about necessity.
Manufacturers are under pressure from every direction: sustainability mandates, labor shortages, and customer demand for customization. AM offers a way to address all three. It reduces waste, decentralizes production, and, through a Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) approach, helps to leverage design freedom to optimize part performance while ensuring manufacturability It also resonates with a new generation of workers who are far more comfortable with digital tools, helping manufacturers bridge the skills gap while modernizing operations.
The titanium USB-C port in the new iPhone may be small, but its significance is enormous. It signals that AM has crossed the threshold from niche to normalized. For manufacturers, the question is no longer if AM will play a role, but how soon and how strategically.
The next industrial era won’t be led by whoever has the fastest machine, but by those who can harness the flexibility, data, and design freedom that additive manufacturing makes possible.
Mathieu Pérennou is Additive Manufacturing & Nexus Solutions Director at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.
