Apple is planning to use advanced liquid metal and improved titanium alloys for the iPhone Fold, according to new information from the supply chain. According to a Korean Naverknown as “yeux1122,” who cites a source from a materials company, the hinge used in Apple’s first foldable iPhone will be made of liquid metal, an “amorphous” material that Apple has been exploring for over 15 years.
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The main body of the device will apparently use a revised titanium material that improves durability while reducing overall weight compared to the iPhone's existing titanium frames, despite having almost the same surface area. Apple's relationship with liquid metal dates back years, starting with a 2010 deal with Liquidmetal Technologies.
Apple received a “perpetual, worldwide, fully paid-up, exclusive license” to commercialize the intellectual property related to Liquidmetal in the consumer electronics sector. Around the same time, Apple began using the material in small parts of the iPhone and iPad, such as the SIM ejector tool. In the following years, Apple repeatedly renewed or expanded aspects of its agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies, but the material remained difficult to scale for high-volume structural components and has never seen significant use.
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Liquid metal has continued to appear in Apple patents and rumors over the years. Liquid metal does not have a crystalline structure, which means it offers high strength, resists permanent bending, and stands up well to repeated mechanical stress. These characteristics have led Apple to repeatedly explore liquid metal in patents covering hinges and other moving parts, especially for foldable devices where the material's fatigue resistance and spring-like behavior are essential for the durability of the hinge.
For the body of the device, titanium provides a stronger strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum or stainless steel, but foldable designs add further limitations due to their larger size and the need to manage weight around the hinge.
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Changes to both the titanium alloy itself and the manufacturing process to increase strength while reducing weight for a given surface area could help solve this problem. The iPhone Fold is likely to be Apple's fourth attempt at a titanium iPhone, so it has had several generations to refine the alloy's composition to optimize specific properties.
