iPhone 6 to Feature Liquidmetal as Apple Gains Exclusive Rights Until 2015
Apple secured its hold on liquidmetal technology as a Securities and Exchange Commission document filing reveals exclusive rights to the company. Apple extended its exclusive license on the rare metal up to February 2015. This is the second time both Liquidemetal and Apple decided to revise their agreement for an extension. It also appears Apple's intent on including the metal and technology in its upcoming devices, the iPhone 6 as the first in line.
According to Apple Insider, the SEC document revealed on May 21 shows that Liquidemetal and Apple have arranged for an extended exclusive license allowing Apple to use a rare metal in its upcoming products until the specified date. The SEC filing revealed the second amendment the companies did on an agreement signed first back in August 2010. The first amendment extended the agreement to 2012 and now Apple added more than a year to it again.
Until recently, Apple has only used the Liquidmetal or special bulk amorphous alloy in the company's SIM card ejector tool. Nonetheless, it is also possible for Apple to have used the material in other components of the products though they may be small and often unseen.
Dr. Atakan Peter, the mind behind the rare metal, noted previously that the tech giant may be a couple of years away from developing a mass production procedure for the alloy. It will still take Apple two to four years before it can supply numbers matching the demand for iPad and iPhone parts. During that time, Peker shared that there is: "no suitable manufacturing infrastructure yet to take full advantage of this alloy technology." Apple may have developed that procedure now.
According to Forbes' report, Apple's sapphire and liquidmental patent has been cleared. This means people may have to get ready for a new iPhone 6 design. Apple obtained U.S. Patent No. 8,738,104 entitled "Methods and systems for integrally trapping a glass insert in a metal bezel." To put it simply, the company can now integrate glass or sapphire within the Liquidmetal bezels. The extended agreement and new patent do support Apple's plans in delivering a whole new flagship phone. The iPhone 6 will reportedly be released this September.