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Apple's Foldable iPhone Rumored to Be Built With Liquid Metal and Improved Titanium

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Apple is planning to use advanced liquid metal and improved titanium alloys for its first foldable iPhone, according to new supply-chain information.

Foldable-iPhone-2023-Feature-1.jpg

According to the Korean Naver user known as "yeux1122," citing a material company source, the hinge used in Apple's first foldable iPhone will be made from liquid metal, an "amorphous" material Apple has been exploring for over 15 years. The main body of the device will apparently use a revised titanium material that improves strength while reducing overall weight when compared with existing titanium iPhone frames, despite having virtually the same surface area.

Apple's relationship with liquid metal goes back years, tracing back to a 2010 deal with Liquidmetal Technologies. Apple received a "perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license" to commercialize Liquidmetal-related intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products.

Around the same time, Apple started using the material in small iPhone and iPad parts such as the SIM ejector tool. In subsequent years, Apple repeatedly renewed or extended aspects of its arrangement with Liquidmetal Technologies, but the material remained difficult to scale for high-volume structural components and it has never seen significant use. Liquid metal has continued to surface in Apple patent filings and rumors over the years.

Liquid metal lacks a crystalline structure, meaning that it offers high strength, resists permanent bending, and holds up well under repeated mechanical stress. Those characteristics have led Apple to repeatedly explore liquid metal in patents covering hinges and other moving parts, especially for foldable devices where the material's fatigue resistance and spring-like behavior are essential to hinge durability.

For the body of the device, titanium provides a stronger strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum or stainless steel, but foldable designs add further constraints because of their larger size and the need to manage weight around the hinge. Changes to both the titanium alloy itself and the manufacturing process to increase strength while reducing weight for a given surface area could help remedy this. The foldable iPhone is likely to be Apple's fourth attempt at a titanium iPhone, so it has had several generations to iterate on the alloy's composition to optimize particular properties.

Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to debut in the fall of this year alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. It is rumored to feature a wide, book-style folding design with a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch outer display, a crease-free display, the A20 chip and Apple's C2 modem, two rear cameras, Touch ID, and more.

Article Link: Apple's Foldable iPhone Rumored to Be Built With Liquid Metal and Improved Titanium
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/14/foldable-iphone-to-be-built-with-liquid-metal/
Last edited:
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I’m really sorry, but this is not going to work. Anyone who has ever held a foldable phone in their hands knows why. No matter how much they may have improved it. The existence of a foldable phone does not solve any real, existing problem. And under that premise, no product can succeed.

It doesn’t feel satisfying to use a screen that bends, and with the current screen sizes of modern smartphones, a larger display isn’t even necessary—for what exactly? Watching a movie?

I can understand Samsung or another brand considering it—but Apple?
Apple is known for doing extensive filtering before releasing a product, making sure it actually solves a real problem. This is yet another sign that the Apple we once knew no longer exists.
 
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Reactions: manbat, Jxdawg, Rafagon and 5 others
Ferrandix said:
I’m really sorry, but this is not going to work. Anyone who has ever held a foldable phone in their hands knows why. No matter how much they may have improved it. The existence of a foldable phone does not solve any real, existing problem. And under that premise, no product can succeed.

It doesn’t feel satisfying to use a screen that bends, and with the current screen sizes of modern smartphones, a larger display isn’t even necessary—for what exactly? Watching a movie?

I can understand Samsung or another brand considering it—but Apple?
Apple is known for doing extensive filtering before releasing a product, making sure it actually solves a real problem. This is yet another sign that the Apple we once knew no longer exists.
Click to expand...
millions buy foldables every year and those people will tell you they work very well actually.

you can do so much more than current slab phones. unless of course you are using chinese slabs where cameras are so good. iphones on other hand i'm not expecting much different camera quailty wise.

why do foldables need to solve a problem? if you want a basic slab phone then get that. want to do more on your device? you get a foldable. thats why choice exists.

apple's choice for the ratio makes perfect sense. you can use the outer display with no issues on screen viewing while opening makes it feel like an ipad. best of both worlds. apple has been waiting and planning for this device for years. this isn't a quick decision they made.
 
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Reactions: Jovijoker, Saturn007, SFjohn and 3 others
You know what's going to piss me off about this kind of phone? Developers HAD to support the tiny screen on the damn SE phone. Now we're going to have to support this monstrosity too? Feh.
 
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Ferrandix said:
I’m really sorry, but this is not going to work. Anyone who has ever held a foldable phone in their hands knows why. No matter how much they may have improved it. The existence of a foldable phone does not solve any real, existing problem. And under that premise, no product can succeed.

It doesn’t feel satisfying to use a screen that bends, and with the current screen sizes of modern smartphones, a larger display isn’t even necessary—for what exactly? Watching a movie?

I can understand Samsung or another brand considering it—but Apple?
Apple is known for doing extensive filtering before releasing a product, making sure it actually solves a real problem. This is yet another sign that the Apple we once knew no longer exists.
Click to expand...
What problem did the round mouse solve? “There are no computer mice with horrible ergonomics?”
 
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Reactions: Tim Apple’s Glasses and rchaser
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