Apple is all about product design. iOS devices and Macs are some of the best looking and best made products out there. The company loves to integrate new materials and construction methods to make its gadgets as good as they can be.
A great example of this is the switch from the traditional multi-piece plastic design of the old MacBooks to the aluminum unibody MacBooks we have now.
Well, if new reports are correct, Apple is trying to do something pretty similar with the next-gen iPhone. According to ETNews.com, a Korean publication, the iPhone 5 will be made using “liquid metal” technology.
Apple purchased the rights to these patented “amorphous metal alloys” from a company called Liquidmetal Technologies’ back in August of 2010.
Since then, we’ve been waiting for the tech to show up in our Apple devices because, if used correctly, this liquid metal could produce a thinner, lighter, stronger device. Luckily it seems we wont have to wait much longer.
The ETNews.com article states that the main body of the iPhone 5 will be made out of “unprecedented materials.” The article goes on to explain that the liquid metal will make the iPhone’s body “thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts.” Sounds good to me.
It’s worth noting that the article in question also claims this new device will come out at WWDC this June, which goes against the general consensus that Apple won’t release a new iPhone until the fall, so definitely take this with a grain of salt. Even still, though, it’s not nearly as far fetched as some of the other iPhone 5 rumors out there.
I love the look of the glass back on the iPhone, but I’ve always preferred the aluminum on the first generation iPhone.
I mean, if there are problems with people dropping and cracking their iPhones when there’s only one large panel of glass, it doesn’t make much practical sense to put another panel on the back. Metal is simply safer and, as long as signal strength isn’t affected, I’d be over the moon about a liquid metal iPhone.
What do you guys think? Will the next iPhone be made out of this futuristic liquid metal? Would you be happy about it? Comment below
