Prusa Research quietly dropped one of the more interesting hardware announcements of the summer on August 13. The company refreshed its whole enclosed lineup at once: the Prusa XL+, the CORE One L+, and the CORE One+ (Gen 2) are now the standard models, replacing their predecessors at the same prices. If you have an unshipped order for one of the older versions, Prusa says it will automatically upgrade it to the new model at no charge.
There is no single headline feature here, and that is kind of the point. Instead of a shiny new machine, Prusa fixed a long list of small things that operators complain about every day. For a shop like ours that runs printers all day, that list is worth reading closely.
What actually changed
All three refreshed printers get GT1.5 motion belts and an integrated nozzle wiper. The belts are aimed at reducing the faint repeating surface patterns that show up on large smooth walls, and the wiper cleans residual filament off the nozzle before a print starts, so stray strands do not get dragged onto your first layer. Prusa chose a standard replaceable wiper instead of a proprietary consumable, which is a small decision that says a lot.
The XL+ gets the biggest technical package: 360 degree part cooling on the toolheads, high flow nozzles as standard, and a permanently mounted eddy current sensor that aligns the toolheads about 20 times faster than the old removable pin routine. The machine is also prepared for chamber temperatures up to 60 C. The better sealed enclosure reaches around 50 C passively, and an upcoming active chamber heater will push it to 60 C, though Prusa has not given a ship date for the heater yet.
The CORE One+ (Gen 2) gets a redesigned heatbed mount that eliminates the old Absorbing heat waiting step for any material printed at bed temperatures of 85 C or lower. PLA and PETG jobs just start. It also picks up the snap on top panel from the CORE One L and a more robust vent mechanism.
I just bought a CORE One a few weeks ago. Is my printer obsolete now?
No. Prusa is selling upgrade kits and individual components that bring existing XL, CORE One, and CORE One L printers up to the new Gen 2 hardware, with kits rolling out from late August into September. That upgrade path is the real story of this announcement. Most manufacturers would have named a new model and moved on. Prusa is letting a two year old machine grow into the current one, which changes the math on what a printer is worth over its life. Older machines also keep receiving firmware updates, slicer support, and spare parts.
My prints have faint repeating lines on smooth surfaces. What is causing that?
Those fine, evenly spaced vertical patterns usually come from the motion system, most often the belts and pulleys, not from your slicer settings. The community calls them vertical fine artifacts, and they are exactly what Prusa is targeting with the GT1.5 belt change across the lineup. If you are chasing them on your own machine, look at belt condition and tension, pulley quality, and motor behavior before you start rewriting print profiles. And if a customer facing part absolutely has to have clean walls, sometimes the honest answer is to print it on a machine that has been tuned for exactly that, which is a big part of what we do for clients.
Why the chamber temperature race matters for buyers
The quiet theme in this refresh is chamber temperature. A 60 C chamber puts materials like PC blends and carbon fiber filled polycarbonate within reach of a desktop machine, because a warm, stable environment keeps big parts closer to their intended dimensions as they cool. It is still a long way from the 150 C plus chambers that true high performance polymers demand. Materials like PEEK and ULTEM want actively heated chambers and hot ends well past 400 C, which is dedicated equipment territory. If your part needs that class of material today, our PEEK and ULTEM printing service exists for exactly that gap, printed in the USA on machines built for it.
Prusa also previewed what is coming next: automatic pressure advance calibration using the load cell already in the toolhead, extrusion aware acceleration limits, PrusaSlicer 3.0 with a first alpha within weeks, a high temperature hotend for the CORE One family in September, and Prusa Connect Local for cloud free network control. The INDX automatic tool changer for the CORE One+ is also close to shipping.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to buy a new printer to get the Gen 2 upgrades?
No. Prusa is releasing upgrade kits and individual parts for existing XL, CORE One, and CORE One L printers, with availability rolling out from late August into September. Unshipped orders are upgraded automatically.
What does a heated chamber actually do for 3D printed parts?
A heated chamber keeps the whole part warm while it prints, which reduces warping, internal stress, and layer splitting in materials that shrink as they cool. It matters most for large parts and engineering materials like ABS, polycarbonate, and carbon fiber blends.
I need a part in a high temp material my printer cannot handle. Can someone print it for me?
Yes. DC Additive Pros prints engineering materials up through PEEK and ULTEM on purpose built high temperature equipment in Rockville, Maryland, and ships nationwide. Send your file or your broken part to info@dcadditivepros.com for a quote.
When do the Prusa upgrade kits ship?
Prusa says assembled Gen 2 printers are shipping now, CORE One+ upgrade kits come first, and CORE One L+ and XL+ kits arrive around the end of August and beginning of September.
If you make 3D printing hardware, filament, or accessories and want an honest hands on review from a working shop, we would love to hear from you at info@dcadditivepros.com.
DC Additive Pros is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Prusa Research or any other brand mentioned in this article. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Product details are based on manufacturer announcements as of August 18, 2026 and may change.