At Apple, AI stands for 'Apple Intelligence' – and it's coming to everything At its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, CEO Tim Cook proclaimed from the roof of Apple's headquarters the arrival of "profound" intelligence capabilities in the iPhone giant's products. Late to lard its products with what's charitably called "artificial intelligence," Apple would have the world believe it's merely …
I went to Granny’s house, she says the iPad is locked, I say what’s the password, she says she doesn’t remember anymore try “something,” but that didn’t work, the iPad says go do something else for the next 7 minutes, I check her Mac Mini, it says there’s an Apple ID issue, I ask Granny what’s the password, she says “who knows anymore?”, I do a “forgot password,” I go back to the iPad and try “nothing,” the iPad says go do something else for the next hour, I ask Granny where’s the cell phone, she says ask Grampa, I ask Grampa “what’s the 6-digit security code that Apple just sent,” he says “I thought it was a scam so I deleted it!”, so I try the recovery questions, I ask Grampa “what street did you grow up on,” he says it’s Ziprick, I ask “what was your first car,” he says it was a Dodge 4-door sedan, no wait it was a Plymouth, I ask “where did you go on your first flight,” he says, are you kidding?? Maybe Victoria or maybe Vancouver, I don’t remember, so I manage to reset Grampa’s Apple ID, but the iPad isn’t registered as one of his devices, and we can’t break into Granny’s account, so Apple says “Lookit we’ll get back to you June 15.”
Now you know why I could care less about Apple’s artificial intelligence balogna.
AI not needed.
Siri (and being fair Alexa too) need to be less dumb as shit and be able to understand the spoken language properly and also be able to remember things like the album you played this morning which you “I don’t know about that”.
Less OpenAI partnership and more Nuance/Dragon Dictate required.
My car satnav allows me to desigate a location as Home. I did so and later used the voice recognition system to "navigate to Home". It persistently tried to set up a route to Holme, which was hours away. I gave up eventually and used the screen to select Home.
AI? Dumb as a bunch of rocks.
"Siri (and being fair Alexa too) need to be less dumb as shit and be able to understand the spoken language properly and also be able to remember things like the album you played this morning which you “I don’t know about that”."
"Siri (and being fair Alexa too) are not there to help you. They are there to hoover up as much data about you, your speech patterns, word choices and the things you are asking about, so Apple can use and / or sell that info to marketers to make themselves more billions.
You have become the product they sell. A.I. = Astronomical Income
All Apple/OoenAI devices to be banned from all of the Musketeer’s companies. They will be placed in Faraday cages at the door.
In other news, the Musketeer is suing OpenAI. Apparently they want to make a profit, and he disapproves.
In other news, the Musketeer used to be part owner of OpenAI, and has started his own AI thingie, which very few have heard of and even fewer care.
There may be a connection between the three items above.
See https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/elon-musk-says-ban-apple-204647804.html
Memo to self: reason #2187 to never buy a Tesla.
Yeah it is pretty funny. If he was serious about the "security" reasons over any use of cloud based AI he claims as the reason he's gonna be banning iPhones at his companies he'd be banning Androids and Windows PCs as well, but of course it is all a childish vendetta against anyone who has anything to do with OpenAI ever since he wanted to run the company and they told him no and if he didn't like to take his ball and go home. So he did.
Pretty soon he's going to have to hire a full time staffer to keep track of his ever-lengthening enemies list.
Only Mr. Flibble knows!
Rimmer : Mr. Flibble's very cross. You shouldn't have run away from him. What we going to do with them, Mr. Flibble?
[Mr. Flibble, a penguin glove puppet on Rimmer's hand, whispers in Rimmer's ear. Rimmer looks shocked]
Rimmer : We couldn't possibly do that. Who'd clear up the mess?
Apple Intelligence reminds me of a crass advert from the 1980s "I think, therefore IBM". And they are doing ever so well now, aren't they?
Honestly, I think Apple could have carved out a niche from themselves by completely ignoring Generative AI. But I might be wrong, it would hardly be the first time.
This post has been deleted by its author
AI uses an astonishing amount of electricity and with the nuclear power plants from the 1970s slowly being decommissioned, I wonder whether companies like Apple, Microsoft & OpenAI are bringing upon us a new energy crisis.
Maybe these companies ought to invest some of their billions in power generation because, if I am right, the price of electricity could very well soar in the coming years.
Or do big firms get special rates regardless?
*worthless developer conference
*crapple intelligence
The idea where Siri can infer that "there" is a location and that people will want to make an appointment "there" is going to end up really badly.
Still going to be interesting to watch.
And no, I will not be trusting any AI as their learning data can be poisoned, as the recent glue on pizza thing with google proved.
It's all in the timing. The only time serial billionaire Jim Clark stubbed his toe was trying to introduce streaming video to a part of Florida when none of the components were ready. Least of all broadband. Didn't take that long afterwards, but not by him.
Apple is actually climbing the throne. The area of the late republic is over and there it is the one thing that shall rule peoples' life: Apple Intelligence, nothing short of that and nothing as plebeian as Artificial Intelligence which is for the Microsoft masses. The Apple ecosystem is going for ultimate power - sure - one day this will end ...
Yeah, Stargate, I noticed. Just think, if you and I had had MS Recall installed, we could now be reviewing that lunatic's deleted ravings at our leisure!
I can only assume Apple 3D Printer post was LLM-generated. It was complete bollocks, but didn't feature the spelling misteaks, poor grammaring and CAPITALS that usually mark out the earnest nutter.
Uhm.... I am the nutter who writes the ALL CAPS !!! I was the person WHO WROTE THE ORIGINAL POST!
It seems my missive was factually correct as i got another message indicating that Apple sent a cease and desist letter to multiple websites where my post was posted to!
If Apple is doing that (i.e. sending cease and desist legal docs!) then it means the data that i received via an online anonymous messaging system that destroys messages once fully read is substantially correct and true!
So it seems that Apple TRULY IS BUILDING advanced and faaaaaast plastic, metal and ceramic powder 3D printers that will be introduced sooner rather than later!
Apple legal department doesn't do such actions for nothing! Something is up and it seems the person who sent the message to me ACTUALLY DOES KNOW some inside information on Apple's upcoming 3D printer plans!
Anyways, if the listed prices are correct, i willing and WANTING to buy the 800 mm by 800 mm by 800 mm multi-color plastic resin printer. And if i am willing to buy such an Apple product, it means LOTS of other people will too! Apple will have a MASSIVE product hit on their hands and Stratasys, Markedforged, Spee3D, and CATIA (i.e Seimens) ABSOLUTELY SHOULD be quaking in tneir boots at Apple's coming onslaught of 3D printing products!
I still have a copy of the original post but it looks like Apple's legal department is doing something so it is being deleted from multiple places.
It was NOT an LLM generated post. I just reformatted what sent to me to make it flow better and not be so disjointed. I only had a few minutes before the original message gets deleted forever and the Screenshot function is disabled when the anonymous message app is running so i had to type quickly!
It was in the middle of the Apple keynote speeches of WWDC when i got the message so someone is either an employee truly in-the-know or is otherwise a secret product leaker!
Anyways, i am quite pleased at seeing the products listed and i will be one of the first in line to get a large-format Apple 3D printer once it comes out!
My apologies then, I was going to say to that I hadn't had enough coffee when you first posted, and there was a lot to read through.
Rather than a response to Apple's legal team, it seemed plausible that the Reg mods deleted your posts just because of their length - anyone else wishing to comment on the article had to do a lot of scrolling.
Getting into selling 3D printers would be a bit of turn for Apple. Current printers are fiddly, messy, noisy, and most households don't see them as essential. You did outline some methods that might be used to address these points. Some of which were plausible, but not the whole toolbox.
There were also some things that didn't add up:
-700 USD isn't cheap compared to the free licence of Autodesk Fusion that is available for hobbyists. Solidworks too offers a Start-up licence, free for a year to new customers in start-up customers.
-Apple employees making test items like trainers is a sign they own 3D printers, not necessarily a sign that they are preparing to sell 3D printers.
- software updates to improve the performance of a 3D printer would not be on its BIOS.
- is a full-frame camera sensor the best approach for monitoring a 3D print run? Multiple iPhone-level cameras would offer more flexibility, lower cost, and inference of the 3D form through photogrammetry.
This is not the first time I had heard of Apple employees wearing 3D printed footwear with Apple logos on them BUT the real takeaway is that that Apple-branded footwear, figurines, aircraft, working engines and other 3D prints were created SOLELY BY IN-HOUSE DESIGNED AND MADE Apple-branded 3D printers! The fact they were BRANDED with actual Apple logos indicates a sophisticated level of fit and finish indicating significant research and development progress! It also means Apple is getting READY to start the eventual public announcement and marketing onslaught of 3D printers and Apple-branded 2D/3D full frame and medium format cameras since they seem to believe the products and their related software actually ARE READY ENOUGH for public use!
The $795 price for a functional equivalent of a CATIA or NX level of CAD/CAM/CAE/FEA design and simulation software indicates that Apple thinks that enough current and future engineers, manufacturing companies and design newbies will have no issue spending $795 in order to get $100,000 worth of product development software. I think it's a smart idea! Giving it away would CHEAPEN the Apple brand BUT by specifying that you are getting the equivalent of a full hardware manufacturing design and modeling suite for ONLY $795 rather than spending $100,000+ USD for a full CATIA or NX suite WILL convince buyers to buy the Apple-branded 3D printers and the Apple-branded plastic, metal and ceramic powder consumables! It's a BRILLIANT concept! You get one copy free when you buy each Apple 3D printer but for group collaboration with multiple engineers, management, design employees, students, etc. means you can easily buy extra Apple software copies FOR ONLY $795 rather than the ridiculously expensive licence prices of CATIA or NX! If Apple REALLY wants to take marketshare, offer 30 day or 90 free-to-test-out terms for the software and/or offer Student pricing such as $295 for a single-user licence.
If Apple does that pricing, it will OBLITERATE the marketshare of AutoCAD, Inventor-3D, CATIA, NX and other proprietary design and simulation software, especially if it's as easy to use as a Final Cut Pro and the App Playstore! Plus, by selling pre-made and end-user supplied printable and end-user modifiable design files in the App Store, it will create a MONSTER-SIZE market for 3D printable items. In fact I would Looooooove to buy the file for an Apple-logoed 3D printable running shoe that can be custom fitted for my own foot size!
I also see a huuuuuuge market for officially licenced 3D printable items from Star Wars, Marvel, DC and Disney character models supplied by the studios themselves that are ALLOWED to be modified by the end-user! I would personally WANT an official and ORIGINAL 3D file coming from Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic itself of a Lightsabre or of Yoda or R2D2! Even Nike or Adidas can get in on the action by supplying OFFICIALLY LICENCED 3D printable running shoe or basketball shoe models for end-user download, modification and printing for a perfect fit! Just needs some proper indemnification legalese put into the download terms and conditions for each 3D model! My own custom-sized-and-3D-printed-by-me Air Jordan-23's would be a godsend for the consumer marketplace!
Apple and the 3D model suppliers would make a fortune from the 3D model App Store and end-users get what they want --- aka properly licenced, properly curated and safety-vetted end-user-customizable 3D printable end-products! What's not to like about that?!
I am VERY VERY VERY EXCITED by what was leaked and I really, really hope that Apple comes out with all this sooner rather than later! I want one!
V
" .... - is a full-frame camera sensor the best approach for monitoring a 3D print run? Multiple iPhone-level cameras would offer more flexibility, lower cost, and inference of the 3D form through photogrammetry. ..."
I am quite sure the message STATED that Apple is developing it's OWN in-house designed Apple-branded full-frame and medium-format cinema cameras which have built-in LIDAR/SONAR/RADAR for 3D depth scanning for every captured still photo and video frame so that 3D environments and real-world objects can be scanned in real-time and then converted into digital versions for use in AR/VR applications and 3D printable object files.
The message sent to me during the WWDC keynote AND based upon previous sources ALSO INDICATE Apple wants high resolution 8K video with 64-bit RGBA colour capture and rendition plus 64 megapixel and above Still Photos which will make the production of 3D environments and 3D objects much easier for the Apple Vision Pro system AND will facilitate easy 3D printing in plastic, metal and ceramic! Again, based upon earlier sources, I was told that SIGMA may be the OEM builder for the camera bodies and lenses for the Apple-branded Full-Frame and Medium-Format CMOS image sensor cameras! I also understand from earlier sources that Apple wants to control the ENTIRE pipeline from Image and 3D-model Acquisition to Post Production (i.e. Final Cut Pro and Apple CAD/CAM/CAE/FEA/Simulation software) to end user-sales (App Store, Apple TV, Web Streaming and Apple Vision Pro AR/VR apps)
It looks like to me that Apple wants to emulate Disney and Comcast which make and control ENTIRE production pipelines and end-user consumption environments! I fact, I wouldn't put it past Apple to start even thinking about BUYING ALL OF DISNEY to get its hands on all sort of product IP and end-user destinations that can be rebranded and/or otherwise changed into Apple productization pipelines!
If I was Apple management, I would SERIOUSLY THINK ABOUT buying ALL of Disney in order to get theme park access for selling Apple products, get animated and real-world character IP to sell 2D/3D static and interactive imagery plus 3D printable models AND get access to production pipelines and production studios that get new types of multimedia made and watched on Apple-branded hardware and software systems!
I really do think the Apple Vision Pro system is the harbinger of an entirely NEW pipeline of Apple multimedia hardware, software and media production companies that will give end-users a locked-in but SAFE AND WELL-CURATED cornucopia of Apple-branded systems and media! Apple-branded 3D printers, 2D/3D cameras and new media production and hardware design/simulation software WILL bring about that "All-Apple, All-The-Time" type of world that Disney started first! Is it good for society in general? Who knows?! All I know is that it looks like Apple-based 3D printing and 2D/3D cinema-quality cameras and new design/simulation software ARE coming sooner rather than later! I'm eager to take a look and maybe take a gander at buying one of those 3D printers for myself!
We shall see!
We also live in VERY interesting times!
V
Oops! Earlier post of mine said CATIA is from Siemens when it's actually a product from Dassault of France. Siemens Germany makes the high end NX CAD/CAM/CAE/FEA software.
Both are way over $100,000 USD if you want all the fancy options including simulation modules.
Apple says it wants to have the same CATIA and NX levels of design and simulation features but will charge only a mere $795 USD for it! I'm eagerly looking forward to Apple's answer to CATIA and NX for plastic, metal and ceramic powder deposition 3D printing!
Solidworks is also from Dassault, but unlike Catia it built atop the Parasolid 3D kernel which is licenced from Siemens, a competitor.
Solidworks enjoys the network effect in small to medium businesses - i.e lots of companies use it because lots of engineers know how to use it, lots of engineers learn it because lots of firms use it. Solidworks users are complaining that Dassault hasn't been squishing bugs, improving the UI or introducing features for a few years, instead trying to push customers to a web equivalent thst doesn't licence its kernel from Siemens.
OnShape, an OS-agnostic CAD program, is in large part a response to this.
Catia is aerospace and automotive, high quality surfaces and as you say, lots of simulation. If you want to design a submarine and the factory to build submarines, you likely use Catia.
Currently, 3D parametric CAD is underrepresented on MacOS, AutoCAD Fusion being the exception. Autodesk have pushed it hard in the hobbyist 3D printing market, with free or low cost licences available. Autodesk also bought the hobbyist website Instructables.com some years ago.
Anyway,that's all just background and context.
Why would Apple want in to the high end CAD market, the 3D printer market, and what do they think they could bring to the party? I'll brainstorm here, erring on generous:
- lack of CAD on Mac is a barrier to buying a Mac to some people
- Apple have a lot of 3D scanning / AR experience, having built ARkit for years, putting ToF scanners in iPhones for years, work on the AVP headset, and likely a lot of relevant work done for the now-cancelled Apple Car.
-The Apple Vision Pro needs an application.
- Staff at Apple have experience of using 3D scanners, printers, CAD etc to develop products. They likely will have customised and developed these tools for their purposes, too.
- 3D printers aren't a mature product.
- iPads are already used as UIs for industrial kit in this sector.
There are lots of reasons that Apple won't want to get into this game, but I'll leave those as an exercise for the reader.
Part 2: Upcoming Apple 3D printers and 2D/3D full frame and medium format cameras:
My sources have now “confirmed” very specific volumetric maximum print size descriptions assigned to a set of printers to be sold by Apple and my sources have also “confirmed” various print speeds along with introductory materials used for said 3D printers which will be the fastest seen yet of their types.
There is a new 3D print-head technology designed in-house by Apple that is applicable to plastic resin, metal powder and ceramic powder internally codenamed “JetStream” which has a very fine plastic, metal and ceramic powder that is jetted through fine-tipped nozzles that instantly melt/vaporize micro-droplets onto high-resolution computer-controlled 3D-XYZ coordinates on a rotating table via pulsed laser technology that deposits said micro-particle-sized plastic, metal or ceramic powder onto the table layer-by-layer using MULTIPLE PRINT HEADS which increase print speeds many-fold over other technologies. My sources have said that Apple has perfected state-of-the-art multi-head multi-colour plastic resin printing and multi-head metal and ceramic powder printing systems that have insane print speeds over competing products.
The below items are the following types and volumetric print sizes seen at Apple headquarters which will be targeted at specific audiences:
a) 200 mm by 200 mm by 200 mm print-sizes plastic and metal powder 3D printers for home/small office/educational users
b) 400 mm by 400 mm by 400 mm print-sizes plastic and metal powder
3D printers for small-business/office-oriented/commercial warehouse 3D printing
c) 800 mm by 800 mm by 800 mm print-sizes plastic and metal powder 3D printers for industrial/commercial scale fast 3D printing
d) 1500 mm by 1500 mm by 1500 mm print-sizes plastic and metal plastic and metal powder 3D printers for industrial/commercial scale fast 3D printing
The 200 mm and 400 mm 3D multi-colour plastic-resin 3D printers will be introduced and sold first and the larger plastic powder and the metal and ceramic powder 3D printers in all sizes will be introduced/sold at later dates.
I have been told the very specific print speeds that will apply to all the plastic resin printers which are 90 cubic millimetres per second sustained across the initial plastic powder types of PLA (Polylactic Acid), ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol), TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) and Nylon. Other plastic powder types will be made available at later dates.
next:
Part 3: Upcoming Apple 3D printers and 2D/3D full frame and medium format cameras:
It is interesting to note that the 800 mm and 1.5 metre box-sized 3D printers are aimed at larger industrial-scale 3D printer sizes which means Apple is directly targeting the major industrial-level 3D printer manufacturers of the world such as Stratasys, MakerGear, SPEE3D and MarkForged! Apple looks to overtake them all right on their home turfs!
The very small size of the nano-ball-sized powders which are super-heated and melted by multiple print-threads also allow very high resolution which has been noted to be down to 50 microns (0.05 mm) at the 90 cubic millimetres per second print rates which is an ASTOUNDING achievement! This high resolution creates smooth-surface parts with no visible layer lines. The multi-head/multi-color 3D plastic printers will have the initially available colors of Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Cyan, Magenta, Purple, Orange, Brown, Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray with other formulation colors to be introduced later. This allows for many colors to be embedded and/or mixed into a given plastic end-product.
The Aluminum powders for the 3D metal printers will be 1060, 3003, 6061 and 7075-series Aluminum powders specially created for fast printing using pulsed laser heating and fast-jetted micro-droplet deposition. Additional Aluminum powder grades such as 5000 and 8000 series will be added later. The Tool Steel grades introduced initially will be A7, D2 and S1 Tool Steels while the Stainless Steel grades will be 303, 316L and 440C series. These metal grades are the most common types used for high-wear and tough parts and they are the most adaptable for fast 3D powder printing. The Copper Powder grades will be B1 and Yellow Brass used for electrical conductivity and for artistic works. The ceramic composite powders will be Silicon Dioxide (Quartz glass), Aluminum Oxide (Alumina), Zirconium Oxide (Zirconia) and Silicon Carbide. Tungsten Carbide ceramic powder and Titanium Alloy powders will be added later.
Print speeds for the multi-head 3D metal and ceramic printers will be up to 5000 cubic centimetres per hour which is insanely fast! And I was told that speed increases for all the plastic, metal and ceramic powder printers can be improved via downloadable BIOS updates for any current and new printing material formulations.
It was conveyed to me that current negotiations between Apple and various metal and plastic powder OEM suppliers are currently undergoing with companies such as Alcoa and Rio-Tinto-Alcan for the Aluminum powders and then Kyocera, AGC and 3M for the ceramics. Stainless Steels will be from Germany, Norway, USA and India plus Copper and Brass powders from USA, Australia and Japan.
There are multiple print heads within each metal powder printer that are each designed for specifically Aluminum, Copper, Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Ceramic powders so that mixed-metal and mixed ceramic powder prints can be facilitated at the same fast printing speeds! I should note that it was not specified how the print heads will be cooled to ensure longevity nor was it conveyed to me the specific means to anneal, cool and/or create thermodynamic stability in the final metal and ceramic powder prints. I was told however, that final metal and ceramic prints were suitable for artistic works, tool-making, automotive, marine and aerospace applications with toughness, longevity, anti-corrosion resistance and thermal stability of plastic, metal and ceramic powder prints being primary development milestones in Apple’s 3D printing strategy. 3D printer cleaning and maintenance strategies were not disclosed to me other than most printing options will be one-button ease-of-use oriented!
next:
Part 4: Upcoming Apple 3D printers and 2D/3D full frame and medium format cameras:
In terms of software and supporting hardware, Apple bought a 3rd party CAD/CAM/CAE/FEA application many years ago which has been re-developed in-house for ease-of-use and will have added A.I.-assistant-based design engineering and 3D print optimization so that final prints are made optimally for each end-use application. It was told to me that this new application will have CATIA-level built-in design, modelling and simulation abilities along with Apple App Store and Final Cut Pro ease-of-use so that home-based and small business users can get up to speed quickly on the 3D printing revolution.
One copy of the integrated design and printing software will be included with each 3D plastic and metal printer. Additional software copies for group-based CAD/CAM/CAE/FEA collaboration will be sold at the phenomenally inexpensive price of $799 USD! There will an introductory line of pre-made free plus paid and encrypted 3D models in metal, plastic and ceramic that can be downloaded from the 3D prints section of the Apple App Store. All plastic, metal and ceramic powder supplies will also be ordered online for delivery to customer sites at competitive prices.
There is also a long-rumored set of Apple-branded full-frame and medium-format-size CMOS sensor 2D/3D cameras at 8K video resolutions and above recording at 16-bits per RGB colour channel and Alpha/Depth channel bit-widths which have interchangeable single-lens and stereoscopic lenses along with built-in frame-by-frame LIDAR/SONAR/RADAR depth scan metadata recording (in mm, cm, and km measurements) that will be used for fast 3D scanning of real world objects and environments used within AR/VR production AND for 3D printing purposes. The rumored OEM supplier is SIGMA of Japan for the camera body and all its Apple-branded prime/zoom lenses!
The rumored price points for the 3D printers is as follows:
Apple plastic powder 3D printers will be introduced and sold first:
1) 200 mm by 200 mm by 200 mm multi-colour-head plastic powder 3D printer ($1995 USD)
2) 400 mm by 400 mm by 400 mm multi-colour-head plastic powder 3D printer ($3995 USD)
3) 800 mm by 800 mm by 800 mm multi-colour-head plastic powder 3D printer ($7995 USD)
4) 1500 mm by 1500 mm by 1500 mm multi-colour-head plastic powder 3D printer ($19,995 USD)
The above are SIGNIFICANT price-reductions on fast 3D printers that can do 90 cubic millimetres per second when compared to other comparably-sized plastic 3D printers!
next:
Part 5: Upcoming Apple 3D printers and 2D/3D full frame and medium format cameras:
Metal Powder and Ceramic Powder printers will be coming one year later after the 3D plastic printers:
1) 200 mm by 200 mm by 200 mm multi-head metal and ceramic powder 3D printer ($4995 USD)
2) 400 mm by 400 mm by 400 mm multi-head metal and ceramic powder 3D printer ($9995 USD)
3) 800 mm by 800 mm by 800 mm multi-head metal and ceramic powder 3D printer ($24,995 USD)
4) 1500 mm by 1500 mm by 1500 mm multi-head metal and ceramic powder 3D printer ($49,995 USD)
These will be the most expensive products introduced by Apple yet BUT the actual costs when compared to current 3D printing systems is significantly cheaper and will be much faster printing due to recent Apple innovations in 16-head and 64-head pulsed-laser-based super-heated micro-droplet plastic, metal and ceramic powder deposition technology! The consumable prices were not disclosed to me other than saying that they would be competitive and will have a very affordable initial introduction price upon upon initial printer sale. (i.e. a big box of consumables is included with initial 3D printer purchase!)
The current estimate made internally by Apple itself of its anticipated 3D plastic and metal printing marketshare is a likely $200 Billion USD per year rising to $450 Billion per year when Apple-branded 3D printers and consumables for multi-color plastic and extended product line metal and ceramic powder sales are fully accounted for by home/office and commercial/industrial users!
In terms of a timeline, it could be as soon as this late year 2024 that some sort pre-announcement is made by Apple. My internal sources say that 3rd quarter 2025 is a possible official introduction date for the first two Apple-branded plastic powder super-fast 3D printers.
By
HarryFilm
(Your prognosticator of many future Apple products)
:END
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I'm not convinced that kind of pin point targeting is a psychologically healthy or socially homogenous addition in an age where tailored information seems to be increasingly valued over well rounded knowledge.
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