Apple might finally be ready to use Liquidmetal alloys in the iPhone
Apple originally signed an agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies in 2010, but other than the occasional reminder that it exists, the partnership does not appear to have been fruitful as of yet. Considering how many Apple devices had hit the market without so much as a trace of the metal alloys, it was safe to assume the agreement might be dormant until it expired, but MacRumors has discovered a brand new collection of patents that give some indication that Apple has indeed been working to make use of the Liquidmetal alloys.
The 17 patents published last Thursday point to a wide variety of potential applications for the alloys, including the pressure sensors in the Home button, the touch sensors found in the displays and the screws that hold everything together. None of the patents are directly linked to Apple, but MacRumors notes that “the inventors listed on the patents are Apple employees who have routinely been associated with the company’s work on Liquidmetal alloys in the past.”
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This article was originally published on BGR.com
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