Foldable iPhone Hinge Uses Liquid Metal After 15-Year Wait
What You Need to Know
- Apple’s 15-year partnership with Liquidmetal Technologies has produced minimal applications beyond SIM ejector tools.
- Foldable iPhone prototype units shipped to carriers for network compatibility testing, indicating stable hardware design.
- Foldable iPhone expected to feature 7.8-inch inner display, A20 chip, Touch ID, and $2,000 starting price.
- Liquid metal hinge represents Apple’s most structurally demanding application of the material to date.
Apple’s liquid metal ambitions date back to a 2010 exclusive licensing deal with Liquidmetal Technologies, a partnership that has spent 15 years producing almost nothing more than SIM ejector tools. The foldable iPhone’s hinge would be the most structurally demanding application of the material Apple has ever attempted, which makes the choice either a genuine engineering breakthrough or a very expensive gamble.
The leaker Fixed Focus Digital posted on Weibo that prototype units have already shipped to carriers worldwide for network compatibility testing. That step typically happens when hardware is stable enough to certify, which places the device further along than the ongoing hinge quality-control debate suggested.
The hinge dispute itself is worth tracking. A separate leaker, Instant Digital, reported earlier that the hinge was failing Apple’s high-frequency durability tests. Fixed Focus Digital has now pushed back on that framing twice, first by downplaying the hinge as the source of difficulty, and now by presenting it as a confirmed, resolved element of the design.
What the specs picture looks like
The foldable is expected to arrive with a specific set of hardware choices:
- 7.8-inch inner display, 5.5-inch cover display
- A20 chip paired with the C2 modem
- Touch ID instead of Face ID
- Two rear cameras
- Starting price around $2,000
Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first reported the liquid metal hinge in March, naming Dongguan EonTec as the sole alloy supplier. Interestingly, Fixed Focus Digital cast doubt on that same material choice in April, suggesting Apple was still weighing liquid metal against 3D-printed titanium alloy. Today’s post from the same source now treats liquid metal as settled, which is either a correction or a reflection of a decision made in the intervening weeks.
DigiTimes has pegged mass production for July, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reporting a September launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, though he flagged the timing as unconfirmed. A $2,000 starting price means Apple is betting the hinge holds up, because returns on a device that folds for a living would be a very public failure.
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