14 DAY TRIAL // There’s no doubt Apple’s promotional videos over the years have helped educate people in the characteristics of certain materials, such as aluminum and glass, even polycarbonate plastic. Now, a new material is stepping into the spotlight at Apple.
And it may just be the elusive Liquidmetal that the company bought rights to in 2010. As we reported earlier this year, the Mac maker locked in rights to use the space-age metal for a couple more years, possibly signaling the introduction of its first Liquidmetal-made product relatively soon.
Now we have further indication that this may be the case, straight from Apple’s iconic designer, the Chingford, London-born Sir Jonathan Ive.
In an interview with the NY Times’ Bits blog, he recalls a time when he used to meet up with his peers to discuss materials in order to achieve what Apple had in mind for a lightweight computer.
“I remember clearly a time when we made plastic portable computers, and Steve and Tim and I sat down and said we wanted to build an incredibly thin and light portable computer,” Ive tells interviewers.
“There was a whole range of challenges from an engineering point of view: How it worked in a new material, titanium. That meant we had to completely redesign and discover new partners to work with, hire a whole new organization.”
Fast forward to today, Apple is facing a new but similar challenge. According to the Brit, there’s a new material he’s been toying with for the past few years that he just can’t talk about. He suggests we’re going to see it used in a new product very soon.
“I’ve worked for the last 15 or 20 years on the most challenging, creative parts of what we do. I would love to talk about future stuff – they’re materials we haven’t worked in before. I’ve been working on this stuff for a few years now. Tim is fundamentally involved in pushing into these new areas and into these materials.”
Considering that CEO Tim Cook has already openly confirmed Apple is making copious amounts of sapphire in Mesa, Arizona, we wonder what would this can’t-talk-about material be if not the Liquidmetal that Apple bought rights to in 2010?
Rumor has it that Liquidmetal will first be used in the iWatch, Apple’s unconfirmed but highly-anticipated wearable computer that focuses on health & fitness with iOS integration. If that’s true, we can’t wait to see it released. Thanks for killing us with anticipation, Jony!