MakerBot's new 3D printers are faster and quieter than their predecessors, and they come with new tools to help teachers use them in the classroom.
The company's new Replicator+ printer is approximately 30 percent faster, has a 25 percent larger build volume, and is 27 percent quieter than the fifth-generation model it replaces. Its smaller cousin, the Replicator Mini+, gets a 10 percent speed boost and is 58 percent less noisy than the Mini Compact.
Eking out noise reductions and performance gains are crucial to boost sales of 3D printers to consumers, since they are slow, noisy, and expensive compared to their ink-and-paper counterparts.
But MakerBot is also going after teachers and design professionals with new apps that walk the user through the entire 3D printer setup process step by step. The MakerBot Print app and the new MakerBot Mobile app can control and monitor multiple 3D printers throughout an office or school.
The company is also launching Thingiverse Education, a lesson plan exchange for 3D printing in the classroom, and a series of step-by-step guides that explain how to finish 3D-printed models once they come out of the printer. The guides include techniques like gluing, sanding, painting, vacuum forming, brass inserts, and silicon molding.
In a statement, MakerBot CEO Jonathan Jaglom said his company has undergone a "cultural shift" over the past year to focus more on the needs of educators and professionals.
Consumers can still buy its printers, of course. MakerBot is offering the Replicator+ at an introductory price of $1,999 and the Replicator Mini+ at $999 until Oct. 31. Regular prices will be set at $2,499 and $1,299.
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