In the iPad Air, Apple introduced the best looking and most powerful iPad ever. Come the rumoured iPhone 6, said to be a phablet-size, iOS device users can expect a smartphone wrapped in a virtually indestructible casing, new reports said.

Thanks to a new device covering material called Liquidmetal, the next iPhone, according to Patently Apple, will sport a hardened chassis that works like an armour. Accidental destruction of the device housed by Liquidmetal is next to impossible, said the same report.

Yet the question begs: Is Liquidmetal for real? The robust material, in fact, is already in circulation, at least the early builds, Patently Apple insists.

"Our report covers the most definitive proof to date that Apple's current iPhone uses Liquidmetal," said the Apple-centric tech site. The handset being referred to is the iPhone 5S.

While not yet in full implement, it is understood that the metallic cover of the 5S is laced with Liquidmetal, likely the aluminium band that wraps around the handset's edges that overlaps under the phone's thin bezels.

The same report indicated too that Liquidmetal is present on existing iOS device accessories. One example cited is the Smart cover that Apple sells for use on the original iPad and iPad Mini.

Yet for the iPhone 6, it is highly likely that Liquidmetal is the dominant exterior covering that will protect the inner components of the large-screen smartphone. The "bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy" will be paired with sapphire.

As suggested by a recent report that Apple is investing heavily on a sapphire-producing factory for volume and cheaper outputs, the material will replace Corning Gorilla Glass as Apple's preferred coating for the iPhone's display panel, camera lend and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor that debuted with the 5S.

Meanwhile, Liquidmetal on the iPhone 6 is made possible by new manufacturing techniques reportedly invented by Apple engineers, which a separate Patently Apple report described as 'customised injection mould'.

Liquidmetal also involves the use of 'glassy alloy' or a composite screen panel material that is formed by "using a deeply undercooled glass forming liquid. This particular embodiment is mostly concentrated on the iPhone's backside.

This new iPhone possibilities came into light as Bloomberg reported this week that Apple's blueprint for the next-gen iOS smartphone involves the use of curved or flexible display with two screen sizes - 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch.

The handsets are also equipped with enhanced sensors, possibly enabling the iPhone 6 to detect pressures at various levels, Bloomberg said.

These new supposed killer features add up to earlier reports that the iPhone 5S successor will likely improve on the 64-bit computing standard that Apple has just introduced and paved the way for 4GB of RAM or more on the iPhone 6.

The first Apple phablet is also seen to employ built-in solar panels for wireless recharging of the device while on the go.

The iPhone 6 release date, according to analysts, is anytime within the second half of 2014 with June of the same year being eyed as the earliest launch time.