Apple Just Introduced the Duo. Did You Spot the 3-in-1?
September 9's Apple Event introduced iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. Naturally, we were interested in the new hardware.
Then we spotted an old friend.
Sitting on a table in the background was the Snapmaker Original: the compact 3-in-1 machine that started our story. Apple had plenty of new things to show. We hope you’ll forgive us for getting a little distracted by a familiar one.
Jump to 19:21 in the event video and look at the table on the right, behind Rich Dinh. There it is. Keep watching, and it appears again behind Greg “Joz” Joswiak at around 1:09:14.
Two appearances. Three functions. We’ll take it.
The Original has been here before. Back in March 2022, we spotted it in Apple’s “Peek Performance” video introducing Mac Studio and Studio Display. It also appeared in an Uber Eats Japan video in February 2021. We collected those earlier sightings in this post.
There’s a particular pleasure in recognizing something you helped build in an unexpected place. For us, seeing the Original again also brings back the excitement of getting that first machine into makers’ hands.
When we brought Snapmaker to Kickstarter in 2017, the idea was to put more creative possibilities on a desktop. One compact machine, with interchangeable heads for 3D printing, laser engraving, and CNC carving. You could try a different process without finding room for another machine.
That campaign brought together 5,050 backers who helped make it happen. Every time the Original turns up somewhere unexpected, it reminds us how far that little machine has traveled.
This Apple event had its own moment of reflection. John Ternus hosted his first iPhone launch as CEO, with Tim Cook making an appearance to help mark the handover. It was a new chapter built on a long history.
For us, there’s another connection to Apple in three words we use every day: Make Something Wonderful.
That slogan comes from Steve Jobs’s invitation to “make something wonderful and put it out there.” In a 2007 reflection, he spoke about making things with care and sharing them as an expression of appreciation for others.
That idea speaks directly to why we build tools for makers. We make the machine; you decide what it makes possible.
Changing tools has been part of that story from the beginning. The Original let you swap heads to move between 3D printing, laser engraving, and CNC carving. U1 carries that thinking forward with four independent printing toolheads, automatically switching between them to bring different colors and materials into a single print.
That’s our next chapter: Snapmaker U1. THE toolchanger. Built on the same belief that the right tools can open up more possibilities on your desktop.
To everyone who backed the Original or found us along the way: thank you for helping write this story.
It’s good to see the Original still getting screen time. Now, let’s Make Something Wonderful.
