Prusa Research has unveiled its latest 3D printer, the Original Prusa MK4S. This new printer is based on the same Cartesian design as its predecessor, the MK4, the fastest 3D printer to date. The Original Prusa MK4S, on the other hand, features completely redesigned 360° cooling with a high-performance turbine, faster printing, a new Prusa app for remote print management, and other improvements.
This new version is expected to include numerous ‘quality-of-life’ enhancements and improved print quality.
Original Prusa MK4S 3D printer
The Prusa MK4S 3D printer is available in two versions: a “plug and print” assembled printer (take it out of the box and start printing in 10 minutes), and a printer assembly kit. It is also available in a fully assembled bundle with the ready-to-use MMU3 unit sitting on top, allowing users to begin printing with multiple colours immediately after unpacking.
This new version is also available as an upgrade kit to all MK4 printer owners. This upgrade kit costs $99 and allows users to enjoy all of the new model’s features.
The MK4 is Prusa’s best-selling 3D printer, and it has over 4,000,000 testing hours in its print farm, making it extremely reliable.
MK4S Features
The new MK4S has completely reworked cooling, allowing for much faster printing while maintaining the same level of high-quality prints (durability, smooth surfaces) and dimensional accuracy.
- High-performance 360° cooling: The new high-performance 360° cooling allows for the printing of extremely steep overhangs. In areas where other printers would require a significant number of supports, the MK4S can easily print a great-looking overhang, reducing or eliminating the need for supports while also saving material waste. Prusa claims that this also leads to improved surface quality on materials such as PETG.
- High-flow nozzle: The MK4S now includes a high-flow nozzle, design in-house, based on CHT technology. In short, high-flow nozzles allow users to print faster with materials they already own, understand, and enjoy. User need not search for new “high-speed” ones. Depending on the material, the flow rate will increase by 45-114%.
- Firmware and Print profiles: Prusa claims to have also improved its firmware and print profiles, so the MK4S is faster than the MK4 while producing even higher-quality prints.
- New Native App: Prusa has also released a new native iOS and Android Prusa app for print monitoring and remote print management, allowing users to print projects directly from Printables without using a slicer. The app is already available in the respective app stores, and it includes another useful feature: users can easily configure the printer’s Wi-Fi with an NFC tap.
- New Add-ons: Many of the MK4S parts are now printed from PC Blend Carbon Fibre or injection-molded, and it is introducing two new awesome modder and hacker additions: an optional GPIO “hackerboard” and an accelerometer addon for printer modders.
A word on Printing Speed
The new MK4S has a slew of new features that will excite both existing Prusa users and new buyers. Everyone nowadays wants to know how fast a 3D printer can print, so let’s talk about it. The Prusa MK4S features faster cooling, WiFi integration with a clean and simple app design, print profiles for a variety of materials, a high-flow nozzle, input shaping, and pressure advance technologies. All of these contribute to faster printing speeds.
Prusa has released information on how this new printer compares to its competitors in terms of speed (Prusa has not revealed the printers used for this benchmarking). Prusa claims that it can print the test model (Groot sitting and smiling by EmilH) in 4 hours and 27 minutes, whereas its CoreXY and Bedslinger competitors require more time. Even the standard Benchy is printed in just 14 minutes.
The Original Prusa MK4S is now shipping as a fully assembled printer (including a bundle with a fully assembled MMU3) and as a printer assembly kit. The MK4 to MK4S upgrade kits will arrive in the coming weeks.
