When the iPhone 4S was announced, there was a fallout among those who like their Apple products to look different to the previous generation. After all, how are you meant to let fellow commuters know that you have the latest iPhone if it looks the same as the old one? Apple must be listening to the griping, because rumour has it the iPhone 5 is going to look very different indeed.

A very quick bit of history: in 2010 Apple was granted the rights to employ Liquidmetal, an amorphous metal alloy that was discovered in 1992. Now word has escaped from Korea that the new iPhone will be made of the stuff, and that that’ll gift it a brand new, bold look.

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Liquidmetal, as well as being “smooth like liquid” is incredibly lightwight, yet strong and durable. It has the appearance of metallic glass, but is far hardier than the glass casing found on the current iPhone 4S. In short: if this rumour proves to be true, it’s going to look pretty.

And more importantly, it’s going to look different. The grumbling surrounding the iPhone 4S launch was laughable, but it did make one thing abundantly clear: an iPhone is as much, if not more, about its looks as it is the tech inside.

Via Wired

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  • Brownlee

    Metal harder than glass? Incredibly lightweight? This is either a new element or super hard lithium or sodium – a real blast when wet!

    • Anonymous

      Or, more likely (and already stated in the article), an alloy. I don’t believe there is a requirement for iPhone cases to be manufactured solely from a single element…

    • mailroomman

      this compound is made of a zr and ti alloy its metal but glass .
      its kind of similar to solder when it melts and for a split second becomes a solid and liquid all at the same time .
      it would then in essence as a comparison make gorilla glass as week as tissue paper .
      this is going to be a real turning point in metallics .
      wow oh wow  

  • http://twitter.com/lexplex_ Lexplex

    Ahhh liquidmetal, previously most commonly found in tennis rackets.  This smells like a PR stunt by the patent-holders to give their product a bit of a boost.  Remember all that excitement about tactile feedback for the iPad 2S (the ‘new iPad’)?

  • http://twitter.com/lexplex_ Lexplex

    Ahhh liquidmetal, previously most commonly found in tennis rackets.  This smells like a PR stunt by the patent-holders to give their product a bit of a boost.  Remember all that excitement about tactile feedback for the iPad 2S (the ‘new iPad’)?

  • http://twitter.com/lexplex_ Lexplex

    Ahhh liquidmetal, previously most commonly found in tennis rackets.  This smells like a PR stunt by the patent-holders to give their product a bit of a boost.  Remember all that excitement about tactile feedback for the iPad 2S (the ‘new iPad’)?

  • http://twitter.com/phillosophism Phill

    They have used it in the 3G previously as a test according to wikipedia so its not out of the question. But the ceramic case the SG3 is rumoured to be getting will have virtually identical properties so its not going to have any performance advantage over the competition and aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder.

  • http://twitter.com/phillosophism Phill

    They have used it in the 3G previously as a test according to wikipedia so its not out of the question. But the ceramic case the SG3 is rumoured to be getting will have virtually identical properties so its not going to have any performance advantage over the competition and aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder.

  • http://twitter.com/phillosophism Phill

    They have used it in the 3G previously as a test according to wikipedia so its not out of the question. But the ceramic case the SG3 is rumoured to be getting will have virtually identical properties so its not going to have any performance advantage over the competition and aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder.

  • ilovemyiphone

    You could make an iphone out of excrement and the itards would still buy them…and you know its true.

  • ilovemyiphone

    You could make an iphone out of excrement and the itards would still buy them…and you know its true.

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