Apple Hiring Liquidmetal Experts for Manufacturing Components

Submitted by lalit on September 14, 2010 - 3:32pm.

AppleInsider has discovered new job listings by Apple that are aimed to hiring Liquidmetal experts for manufacturing new hardware based on the amorphous metal. According to AppleInsider the job posting are for:

Amorphous metal development manager and two metal process development engineers to work at its Cupertino, Calif., corporate headquarters. Apple seeks extremely qualified applications for the positions, as candidates for the engineering roles must have 7 years of experience in manufacturing consumer electronics, while the manager must have 10 years of experience.

The engineers will be involved in composition, molding and forming processes with amorphous alloys, as well as for secondary operations like machining, grinding and finishing of the material.

Last month, Apple obtained exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy – a Zircon based alloy that doesn’t form crystal structure and is amorphous in nature, allowing it to be processed like thermoplastics using die-casting. Liquidmetal will allow Apple to make cases that are stronger than cases made with aluminum without the work and time required to machine a unibody aluminum case.

As we wrote in the article "Where will Apple use the Liquidmetal alloy technology?" We believe MacBook Air will be the first product to see use of Liquidmetal, as it’s both lighter and stronger than Aluminum. MacBook Air cases made with Liquidmetal will allow Apple to weight of the product as well as make it more durable. Yes, there is a possibility that Apple could design a totally new product.