Designer Susan Fang, in collaboration with former Dyson engineer Orelio De Jonghe, has created a sequence of 3D printed equipment for Apple’s newest units, together with iPhone and iPad covers, Apple Watch bands, AirPod enclosures, and Mac Mini shells.
“We began with the query of ‘how can we make 3D printed equipment really feel alive, with a way of workmanship, virtually really feel like a form of future craft?’ — this nonetheless requires full handbook management over totally different packages, and may’t be accomplished with AI, which continues to be imprecise and really random,” defined Fang.
Pushing Digital Design Limits
With De Jonghe’s technical experience, Fang’s group absolutely leveraged Apple’s M-chip units and Clo3D trend software program to experiment with advanced simulations and rendering results. The mission is constrained by software program and {hardware} limits: not all results are reproducible outdoors high-performance techniques, and exact handbook enter is required for accuracy.
“We began doing extraordinarily advanced results — the sort usually utilized in animated function movies, which often require huge multimachine rendering — a standard laptop computer would crash, however a MacBook might run it,” Fang mentioned. By emphasizing these boundaries, the group clarifies what 3D printing can and can’t ship in client tech: intricate, tactile designs are attainable, however solely inside superior workflows.
Nonetheless, utilizing the most recent software program choices, Fang and De Jonghe explored naturalistic results, similar to vegetation swaying within the wind, and built-in 3D printed components seamlessly into clothes and equipment. The ensuing designs mix craftsmanship with know-how, demonstrating how digital fabrication can produce expressive and natural kinds.
The collaboration gadgets can be found on Fang’s Xiaohongshu platform, from 561 renminbi ($79) for an iPhone cowl to 7,925 renminbi ($1,120) for a Mac Mini shell, displaying how superior 3D workflows translate into tangible, commercially accessible merchandise.
3D Printing Brings Personalization and Craft to Shopper Tech Equipment
Fang’s mission illustrates why 3D printing is commercially and technically related for client tech equipment right this moment. It demonstrates that digital fabrication could make mass-produced know-how really feel personalised and expressive, however solely beneath particular circumstances: superior software program data, exact handbook enter, and high-performance {hardware}.
Comparable approaches at the moment are being explored commercially, bringing customization and expressive design to broader client tech equipment. In 2024, Bambu Lab and CMF by Nothing ran a design contest inviting creators to develop customized equipment for the CMF Cellphone 1, offering specs to make sure useful, exact designs. Equally, UNYQ and IKEA collaborated on personalised 3D printed equipment for players, together with customized controller grips and ornamental components that combine with present furnishings and setups.
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Featured picture exhibits Flower iPhone Case 3D Printed. Picture through SUSAN FANG.
