With a new patent awarded to Apple, the Company hints at the possibility of the building its mobile devices from Liquidmetals. This material is already being used in all kinds of industries, from defense to medical to sports to space—like NASA's Genesis spacecraft.
Dr. Ataka Peker who is one of the original inventors of the alloy tells Business Insider, “Liquidmetal is the trade name for a new class of metallic alloys. The alloys have a unique atomic structure, more like glass, and are commonly known as “bulk metallic glasses” or “bulk amorphous alloys."
“Liquidmetal is super strong, scratch and corrosion resistant, resilient and can be precision cast into complex shapes. The benefits will be in the form of strong and aesthetic structural components, such as casing and frames,” he adds.
A recent SEC filing provides fresh evidence that Apple seems to be very interested in dealing with a company that makes such “Liquidmetal.”
A small company named Liquidmetal Technologies (LQMT). The company has developed a series of amorphous metal alloys that are sold under the commercial name Liquidmetal. These alloys were originally developed at California Institute of Technology (CALTECH).
Apple holds the exclusive license for the development and sale of the material in the consumer market.
“Plastics are low cost to manufacture into complex shapes but not strong enough. Metals are strong but difficult to produce into complex shapes. And glass feels and looks beautiful but is highly fragile. Liquidmetal can combine these advantages and remedy some of these shortcomings,” says Mr. Peker.
Reading about its properties and uses, it's clear that Apple thinks they have found a Philosopher's stone.
The prime mover in getting Liquidmetal in use at Apple was none other than Jonathan Ive himself.
Liquidmetal has been used by other Companies including Samsung and Nokia but only for smaller components. Even Apple has so far has used it only for the iPhone SIM card ejector pin.
Mr. Peker said that it was unlikely that Apple would be able to make an entire product casing from Liquidmetal "in the near term".
He said: "It's more likely in the form of a small component such as a hinge or bracket. A MacBook casing, such as a unibody, will take two to four more years to implement."
Mr Peker also said Liquidmetal was not yet perfected and Apple would need to "spend on the order of $300 million to $500 million - and three to five years - to mature the technology before it can be used in large scale."
"I expect Apple to use this technology in a breakthrough product. Such product will likely bring an innovative user interface and industrial design together, and will also be very difficult to copy or duplicate with other material technologies,” he added.
Reports from a Korean news outlet last month suggest that a new breakthrough in 'superspeed pulse mould technology' had shown the use the material for phone casings.