Apple Unlikely to Use Liquidmetal Alloys as Major Design Material for Several Years

[Hashberry]

Meh, not too much of a disappointment for me. While liquidmetal Macbook would probably be quite awesome as design, it seems rather overkill for a mass product that has estimated lifespan of 3-5 years. Sure, the current aluminum casing is more prone to dents and scratches, but considering typical laptop usage it is more than enough in terms of durability.

Maybe Apple could use liquidmetal for keyboard keys? For me that seems to be the most abused part of Macbook...

 

[iFajar]

I highly doubt Apple will use LiquidMetal alloys for the Macbook cases. Liquidmetal are relatively heavy Zirconium/Titanium alloys.

Woah, sounds very expensive to me

 

[omgitswes]

I'm not familiar with this at all. What are some of the advantages of using Liquidmetal?

 

[SPUY767]

The first time I ever used the SIM removal tool, it instantly snapped off inside. They had to give me a new phone.

Interesting. I get dozens of SIM removal tools from my dry cleaner each week.

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Woah, sounds very expensive to me

It isn't unusually so. The thing about liquidmetal is that it's alleged to be more shatterproof than regular titanium alloys, but IIRC, they made some golf clubs with the stuff only to abandon the product because of shattering. One thing I recall liking about the idea o liquidmetal's Alloys was corrosion resistance because of the disorganized atomic structure preventing oxides from being able to form in a repetitive manner as they do on crystalline metals, but corrosion isn't a huge problem on consumer electronics because they tend to be treated pretty well.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple owns a liquidmetal plant and the best they can think of is to use it to make sim-tray openers? I simply used a bent paper clip to open my sim tray because I wasn't initially aware my ipad shipped with one.

 

[CJM]

Liquidmetal doesn't harden into a crystalline molecular structure like most metals and metal alloys do. It behaves almost like plastic in that it can be heated until it gets soft, then pressed into a complex shape. It doesn't have to be completely melted into a liquid and then poured into a mold like most metals.

So what's the advantage? Well, first of all, you don't need to heat Liquidmetal all the way up to its melting point to shape it. Less energy required. Second, because it never becomes a runny liquid, it's somewhat easier to control and to press into complex shapes. That means simpler molding and few if any grinding/drilling steps, which take time and energy and require additional machinery.

Other advantages include corrosion resistance and scratch resistance. Disadvantages include cost (at least in the original formulation) because of platinum being part of the formula.

So that's why they want to go mine asteroids...

 

[robeddie]

sonofabitch!

Every day more rumors about stuff like this, while almost all the products in the buyers guide are in red 'do not buy' mode.

I can't wait for the day we finally get the good ol' rumor that says "new iMac (macpro, macbook pro - you name it) rumored to be announced next Tuesday".

 

[vincenz]

To be honest, I think the name is cooler than what the actual material will be.

 

[spazzcat]

Liquid Metal Mac Pro


OK, seriously though... Ivy Bridge is out! I want new Macs!

I want my new MBP! We already have the approval, it's now in Apple's hands

 

[kalsta]

Extreme bounciness. Not only will you have to pick up your damaged iPhone, you will have to chase it down the street!

Ha! Already have to do that when one of my kids gets their hands on my iPhone.

Thanks guys. Haven't laughed that hard reading MR comments for a while.

 

[v.pic]

Bet the first product the use this for is the "iPanel" - aka, the Apple TV that is a TV.

When's the last time you saw a TV made out of a highly-durable, extremely light weight, brushed and beautiful metal?
Never.

Perfect for making complex shapes, you say?
Well I'd say that casting metal into a television body is pretty damn complex.

That is the first thing that came to my mind, at least. A couple years fits in the time frame they'd release such a device too. One, the want to milk the 3rd gen Apple TV. Two, they want to be able to offer some serious features besides just what the box-top guy does now - so they want to hammer out agreements with streaming services and content providers.
Between those two factors, an entire computer line up to refresh from the ground-up, an iPhone 6th gen, and an iPad 3rd gen to prepare for - which like the computer line up will both be redesigns, with different internals, probably some big enhancements and quite likely an overhaul of iOS with iOS 6....

All that considered, I think that timeframe matches pretty well with the possibility for an "iPanel." Personally, I think an iMac - esqu HD TV would be badass.

 

[Sackvillenb]

Kind of disappointing... makes sense though, since Apple's production volume is quite high... But to be honest, I'm quite happy with the aluminum. Liquid Metal is just an interesting and novel material and has a bit of a "cool factor" in that respect Maybe someday though!

 

[kdarling]

Apple owns a liquidmetal plant and the best they can think of is to use it to make sim-tray openers?

Apple doesn't own any plants.

Apple bought perpetual exclusive worldwide rights to use LiquidMetal (tm) in consumer electronics devices.

That means no one else can use that particular brand, just as if someone bought exclusive rights to Gorilla Glass.

Wonder what they paid for that license. It covers a lot of territory, and if it's never used, would seem a bad move by the inventors' spin-off to give up that market forever.

 

[CIA]

Apple doesn't own any plants.

Apple bought perpetual exclusive worldwide rights to use LiquidMetal (tm) in consumer electronics devices.

That means no one else can use that particular brand, just as if someone bought exclusive rights to Gorilla Glass.

Wonder what they paid for that license. It covers a lot of territory, and if it's never used, would seem a bad move by the inventors' spin-off to give up that market forever.

Yea, the flipside of all this might be Apple just flexing it's cash muscles to make sure no one else uses LiquidMetal in a product going forward. Apple may sit on the license forever not doing anything with it.

 

[anthonymaw]

Not quite the T-1000 Terminator but...

I still don't understand the benefits of LiquidMetal. Basically all I want is an MacBook or iPhone that doesn't dent if I drop it and the screen doesn't fracture. As a computer tech in a large enterprise company I see user's dropped busted MacBooks and smashed glass iPhones regularly and inevitably they are a write-off. Is LiquidMetal (or Gorilla Glass for that matter) the solution? I don't think so....

 

[javed101]

To be honest, I think the name is cooler than what the actual material will be.

Exactly my thoughts.

If my laptop can't be poured into a cup and carried around, then it doesn't deserve to be called a "Liquidmetal" laptop.