Back in 2010, Apple had acquired rights to Liquidmetal Technologies' "amorphous metal alloys" to bring their proprietary IP to Apple's consumer electronics products. Since then there have been rumors that next generation iOS devices will be made of liquidmetal.
Korean website - ETNews claims that the next generation iPhone will be made of "liquid metal" alloys, which will be thinner and lighter and more resistant to impact damage.
According to industry sources, the next flagship phones of [Apple and Samsung] are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquid metal for iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts. The new phase of the rivalry is because neither one of them can get a decisive edge over the other solely with its OS and AP specifications, features or design.
LiquidMetal is a series of exotic alloy components developed by researchers at CalTech and is often referred to as "bulk metallic glass". This is due to its atomic structure that makes it glass-like while offering a super-strong yet extremely flexible material that is resistant to corrosion and is scratch-proof as well.
ETNews also claims that Apple will launch the next generation iPhone made of liquidmetal at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. It's hard to believe that Apple will launch a new iPhone in just 9 months after the launch of iPhone 4S, so take this with a pinch of salt.
According to recent rumors, the next iPhone will be coming in fall 2012, which will feature the same 3.5-inch screen or very close to it, support 4G LTE networks and come with a new micro dock connector. It remains to be seen if Apple will call it the new iPhone (like the new iPad) or iPhone 6 (sixth generation iPhone) or iPhone 5 (still seems to be a favorite among many websites).
What do you think? When do you want Apple to launch the next iPhone?
