Apple iPhone 5 'to be cased in Liquidmetal'

Apple’s next iPhone will be cased in ‘Liquidmetal’, according to reports. 

Apple's chief executive: Tim Cook. Photo: AP

 

The iPhone 5, likely to be released later this year, is expected to be cased in a ‘metallic glass’, otherwise known as Liquidmetal, says a Korean news outlet citing ‘industry sources’.

The case is expected to be 20 times stronger than the current encasement. According to The Register, ‘metallic glass is a metal alloy, but one with the disordered structure of glass’. The material has been around since the 1990s, but since a new breakthrough in ‘superspeed pulse mould technology’, this type of glass, which is as tough as metal, can now be used for phone casings.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on rumours and speculation.

The technology giant has signed an exclusive deal with Liquidmetal Techologies Ltd, the inventors of the material. Apple is believed to have paid $11m for the exclusive arrangement.

The part of the new iPhone expected to be made out of metallic glass is the back casing – as opposed to the glass display.

The same Korean news outlet has also predicted that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3, due to launch on May 3 in London, will be made out of high-tech ceramics.