One of the things you’re paying for when you buy a 3D printer from Prusa Research is, essentially, your next 3D printer. That’s because Prusa’s machines are designed to be upgraded and modified as time goes on. An upgrade kit is always released to allow each older printer to be converted into its successor, and while there’s occasionally been some debate about whether or not it’s the most cost-effective choice, at least it is a choice you have as an owner.
If you’ve got a Prusa MK4, you’ll soon get to make that decision for yourself. Announced earlier today, the new MK4S brings some notable changes to last year’s printer. The $99 upgrade is scheduled to be available by the end of the month for existing owners, but if you’ve been on the fence about joining Team Orange and Black, you can purchase the MK4S right now in both kit and assembled forms for the same price ($799 and $1,099 respectively) as the previous MK4.
So, what’s new with the MK4S? With speed an increasingly hot topic in the 3D printing community, it should come as little surprise to find this new machine is even faster than its predecessor. A reworked cooling system and new high-flow nozzle mean Prusa’s latest can spit out everyone’s favorite little boat in 14 minutes—or as little as 8 minutes if you don’t mind a slight drop in print quality.
The announcement post also cites improvements to the machine’s printed structural components. Parts that were previously made in PETG are now being printed in carbon fiber-infused polycarbonate. Some parts, such as the front panel, have even been switched over to injection molding.
While describing the changes made with the MK4s, the blog post also clarified Prusa’s position regarding open sourcing of their printers. There was considerable concern back in March of 2023 when the company announced it was reconsidering its traditional dedication to making its hardware and software as open — as much as possible — in light of increased commercial competition. But now the company has posted a chart on their site that explains not only what’s being shared for each of their printers, but a timeline as to when we can expect it.
While it hasn’t been updated for the 4S yet, the overview shows that the company plans on holding onto the design files for the MK4 PCBs until the end of the product’s life. Otherwise, it seems their current flagship printer is equally as open as the MK3 that came before it. While a time-limited source release will likely rub some in the wrong way, the reality is that it’s more than you’d get with pretty much any other 3D printer manufacturer out there.
The announcement also talks briefly about the new GPIO “Hackerboard” that the company will start shipping in September. The $15 board plugs into an expansion connector on the PCB of the MK4 or MK4S, and provides eight pins that can be toggled via G-Code sent to the printer. These could be used for all sorts of automation tasks, such as turning on the lights and fans inside of an enclosure or triggering the shutter on a camera. There’s not much detail about this particular add-on yet, but it’s certainly something we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
Bad timing on my part, I just ordered a new one on Jul 31st – so I don’t even get the free voucher.
Hopefully you will still get the Haribo Gummi Bears!
Has it shipped already? if not, perhaps a quick phone call or email is in order :-)
What happened to the other 2 comments?
Did [Clovis Fritzen] post something objectionable? 🤔
9kay, I will give Hackaday benefit of the doubt that their WordPress is messed up (again).
No, Clovis was fine. The comment that he was responding to was the one that got deleted, and unfortunately removing a parent comment orphans the children. (That sounds so dramatic when it’s put in such human terms, but I really mean it in the CS / data structures sense.)
The parent comment was unfoundedly negative and not worth reading.
Thanks!
(I’m looking forward to reading (acceptable) comments on the 4S!)
This isn’t true, at the very least the MK4’s extruder isn’t open source, and it doesn’t seem to be on their pretty chart.
The MK3’s wasn’t either
It used the patented Bondtech gears.
Unless you mean the hotend. And there, it’s not like Prusa designed and opensourced the V6. They just took an already open assembly from e3d.
I don’t like it, but the whole hotend market seems to have moved away from open hardware models – even the revo is proprietary.
problem is, nobody asks for the source code with good intentions lately… so delaying the release of the code/design makes sense to not be copied by cheaper manufacturers.
I wouldn’t pay this much for a bed slinger in 2024.
Don’t get me wrong you are getting a good printer but if I want open, fast, and reliable there’s Voron or one of the various other similar options for about the same money but far more bang for the buck.
If I just want fast and reliable there’s Bambu P1P or X1. And of course the A1 which is much less than the Prusa while being the most similar.
This is just my opinion however, others will be different.
I went with the mk4 for a simple reason
Prusa ships to my country and even better did so for free last year which is baffling to me. I’m sure they must’ve lost some so I’m even more loyal to them now.
Bambu X1 and reliable… It is the printer with the most issues i have if you only count after its set up correctly. Its not that bad as in it constantly costs money for spare parts, but i had to open up the extruder now 4 times in 8 weeks. Well, two times i generated some learnings on what not to do >.<
My prusa i3 mk2.5s from 2016 had three issues since i bought it. The most tedious to set up correctly printer i have is the Creality PrintMill.
Why do you think the bed slinging part is the worst about the design? IMHO not being able to change filament and not having a good enclosure is far worse than a proven kinematic that only becomes an issue on very large (and heavy) or tall and narrow prints.
Yup, we have 2 at the makespace, one problem after the other, I only had to lube the rails on my mk4 in the same lifespan
Conversely, my bambu labs has been extremely solid for 7 months now with zero issues. Shrug
Same with my Mk2.5S – 6 years of adjusting and servicing nothing. I’ve left it for months at a time and turned it on. It was worth every penny.
Highly tempted to buy the 4S for the speed!
I am disappointed at the Prusa MK3 support. There is nothing wrong with my Prusa MK3, it works perfectly fine, but I can no longer use the Prusa slicer or upgrade the firmware. While I suspect I could spend the time and money upgrading to the MK3.5S or MK3.9S (or whatever is the oldest supported config) and use Prusa software again. But the whole reason I bought a Prusa in the first place is because I didn’t want a “3D printer project”. I just want to print!
Um… They just released a new firmware in July for the mk3, hell they also released one for the mk2.5 at the same time. They are still supporting their older printers to a certain extent… Do you want a company to support their products indefinitely?
What are you talking about? The last MK3 firmware update was July 2024. Prusa Slicer works with all of their older printers. I use their latest slicer software with my Mk3 and Mk4 without any issues…
thats strange… my mk3s works perfectly fine with the slicer, and the only electronic part thats changed is the filament sensor. Did you ask the Prusa support?
Thanks for the feedback. I see my comment was a bit mistaken.
Currently any firmware above 3.9.0 will produce failed prints a few layers in. I’ve also not performed any of the physical part upgrades, which may be effecting the firmware defaults(?).
I’ll try again with the latest and see what I can do.
Prusa, time to pack up and sell the company if you can. Nobody can touch the Bambu Lab 3D Printers!
A summary of the patents in question i got from fabbaloo . com about the stratasys vs bambulab case lets me think if prusa might be next…
U.S. Patent No. 9,421,713 (2016), describes s method to purge material from “multiple print heads or deposition lines” into purge towers.
U.S. Patent No. 9,592,660 (2017), describes a method a thermally controlled build platform with a polymer coating to enable adhesion during printing and release after cooling.
U.S. Patent No. 7,555,357 (2009), describes a method to 3D print walls with void regions.
U.S. Patent No. 9,168,698 (2015), describes a method to detect FFF clogs using a force sensor in the extrusion mechanism.
U.S. Patent No. 10,556,381 (2020), describes a method to detect FFF clogs using a force sensor in the extrusion mechanism.
It’s kinda like the Kendrick v drake beef. The mk 4 got bambu to drop consistently and bbl got PRUSA to make good printers and get off their burning empire.
I’m still leaning towards prusa but bbl is helping prusa actually improve.
Making a Drake reference and thereafter referring to Bambu Labs as BBL was pretty confusing at first.
Phew! That was close. I made order for MK4 two days ago but luckily it wasn’t shipped yet. So I edited the order to get MK4S. 6 euros extra payment :)
Thanks hackaday!