Apple Takes Another Ride, Ride, Ride on Liquidmetal

Jon Fawcett, Fuse Chicken

Apple hasn’t done much with Liquidmetal since it first used it to create the SIM card ejector tool for the iPhone 3G. But it still has big plans for the material.

Liquidmetal’s latest 8-K filing with the SEC reveals that the company has agreed to extend its exclusive licensing deal with Apple for another two years. Under the terms of the companies’ new deal, Apple has been granted exclusive perpetual rights to any intellectual property created or acquired by Liquidmetal until Feb. 5, 2014. The price for the extension hasn’t yet been disclosed, but it’s likely similar to the $20 million fee Apple paid for the original.

Just what Apple is planning to do with the super-strong, scratch resistant, amorphous metal alloy isn’t entirely clear, though there’s been plenty of speculation about it being used in everything from iPad chassis to MacBook hinges. Recently, some have theorized that the next iteration of the iPhone will feature a Liquidmetal chassis or, at the very least, see its glass backplate replaced with a Liquidmetal counterpart.