Two weeks ago, Patently Apple posted an IP report titled "Apple's 3rd Patent Application for Future MacBooks and iDevices using a Titan Base and a Polymer or Glass Cover was Published last week." Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent relating to the use of titanium titled "Titanium parts having a blasted surface texture."

Apple's granted patent describes future devices like a MacBook using a titanium substrate having a textured surface.  

Apple states that it may be desirable to etch titanium while retaining a high-gloss surface finish via a blasting process that imparts the blasted and etched titanium part with a fine-scale roughness. In this manner, the blasted and etched titanium part is imparted with a distinctive surface finish that both diffusely and specularly reflects visible light. As a result, the blasted and etched titanium part is distinguished in both structure and appearance from a blasted conventional titanium part and a chemically etched titanium part.

The process or texturizing the surface of titanium alloys leads to a low gloss, matte surface finish, as a high-gloss surface finish is generally cosmetically unsuitable for portable electronic devices in the consumer industry.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates perspective views of various devices that could support titanium surfaces; FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method for forming a metal part.

For more details, review Apple's granted patent 10,901,458.