The iPhone 5 is rumored to be shifting from Glass to Liquidmetal
At the beginning of the month we posted a report titled "Looking into One of Apple's Special-Purpose Liquidmetal Projects" that was based on several patents related to Apple's agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies. Today we learn that Apple and Samsung Electronics plan to shift their respective smartphone designs to new lightweight materials with Apple specifically shifting to the use of liquidmetal.
According to Korea's Electric Times Internet, "the next flagship phones of the companies are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquidmetal for the iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts."
The iPhone is to debut in June during Apple's World Wide Developer Conference, while the new Galaxy S3, also known as "Milky Way," is scheduled to be unveiled in London on May 3, 2012.
While Apple's iPhone 4's glass design definitely had its share of critics and PR problems with antennagate, it still remains the number one smartphone on the market. Yet without a doubt a fresh new design using liquidmetal will help to reignite the iPhone's hysteria around the globe.
It'll be interesting to see if the patents related to the joint Apple-Liquidmetal Technologies project come to life to provide the next iPhone with a little more waterproofing and if a secondary backside antenna design has a place in the iPhone 5. Time will tell.
What are your thoughts on the possibility of the iPhone 5's design shifting to Liquidmetal? Let us know in our comment section below. And remember, put it into perspective: it's only a rumor.
Update May 04, 2012: Here's an interesting May 03, 2012 article from PC Magazine that could add a little perspective on the timing of an Apple product with a liquidmetal casing. Dr. Atakan Peker, who is one of the scientists who invented the liquidmetal alloy, told PC Magazine that he estimated "that Apple will likely spend on the order of $300 million to $500 million—and three to five years—to mature the technology before it can be used in large scale."
Source: ETNews
Here are a Few Sites covering our Original Report: MacSurfer, Twitter, Facebook, Machash, Brightwire, Apple Investor News, Google Reader, Macnews, iPhone World Canada, MarketWatch, StreetInsider, iPhoneItalia Italy, Ubergizmo, Different Apple Japan, iGuides Russia, HackiOSDrive, MacMagazine Brazil, iPhoneinCanada, CNET, Cult of Mac, Know Your Mobile, and more.
It's a rumor. That's fair. All of the good rumors now are coming from Asia where the manufacturing is. Makes sense. It's not much of a stretch and I'll buy it with liquidmetal as I will with Gorilla Glass 2. But a change would stir me on to the new iPhone quicker if it has a new look to it. The iPhone 4S was disappointing.
Posted by: MonkeyMo | April 18, 2012 at 03:30 PM
The korean Times got the basic story right about Samsung winning the lion's share of the iPad's retina display business and that Sharp really didn't make the cut initially.
The fact that Apple's agreement with liquidmetal has, from my understanding, expired sometime earlier this quarter, the timing of the rumor seems right.
I think that the iPhone 4's glass was very sharp when it debuted, but times change. The next iphone needs some new zip and liquid metal might be the answer.
Posted by: Joe | April 18, 2012 at 03:25 PM
Sounds like a nice upgrade for the phone making it kind of like a piece of jewelery and a phone at the same time T_bob
Posted by: Anthony | April 18, 2012 at 08:13 AM