Apple purportedly utilizing Liquidmetal alloy in SIM ejector tool
By Darren Murph 
posted August 17th 2010 9:54AM
posted August 17th 2010 9:54AM
Well, would you look at that. Just days after Apple made official its purchase of Liquidmetal's IP, now the world is finding out how the two love birds are working together. Or, should we say, have been working together. According to Atakan Peker, the alloy's co-inventor, the SIM ejector tool that ships with older iPhone units is made of Liquidmetal's materials. To quote: "That's my metal. I recognized it immediately. Take it from an expert, that's Liquidmetal." Cult of Mac has also confirmed independently that the tool is relying on the newfound acquisition (and Wired assumes the same is true on the iPad 3G), and from a supply chain standpoint, this oddity definitely makes sense. Apple's no fan of relying on a sole supplier for anything, and given that Liquidmetal is one of a kind, it's testing the waters on a relatively non-essential part of the puzzle. There's still no word on how Apple plans to integrate the metal into future products, but given that the pair have apparently already been in cahoots, you can bet they'll be able to skip right over the pleasantries and get down to what's important.
@Spongy
The difference is the Omega bezel with the ceramic and liquid metal actually looks pretty cool, unlike this.
What a waste!
Years ago, Liquidmetal was into making golf clubs. They claimed that their golf clubs, because of their metal's strength and elasticity, would be superior to clubs made from steel or titanium. I'm sure some of you guys have seen the bouncing ball bearing video that the company has put out. You'd think, given that demo, that a "liquidmetal" club would really outperform any competitor...
The funny thing is, their golf clubs did not outperform titanium clubs. They are not more durable. Heck, they are even known for breaking.
If Apple does end up using this material, I would not be very hopeful about it's durability or performance. It'll simply be a talking point.
@ebgolfin
Yep. Every few years this stuff seems to pop up as the next big thing in some industry (golf, tennis, bicycle frames, etc.) and it never seems to go anywhere. Maybe Apple will have better luck with it. We'll see I guess.
Let me guess...admitting that I used a paper clip instead of their "liquid metal alloy sim tool" will void my warranty?
Does it bounce like crazy?
*checks*
No!
SIM ejector tool for when you want to cancel your AT&T contract and unlock it for T-Mobile?
@bjbjohnson
For when you have accidentally swallowed up the SIM card and you can't eject it the next day yourself.
They bought a company to use it to make their SIM ejector tools. Damn no wonder why android is doing so well!
@androidfanboi
Reverse argument could be that Apple is making so much money they can afford to license a companies entire product line to make a 5 cent tool (4 cents is AppleTax).
@androidfanboi,
Actually, no. They were working with them BEFORE they bought them, they had them supplying the ejector tool long before they bought the exclusive rights.
I like my articles with a bit of insight and information. Like, what's special about liquid metal? Maybe next time.
@huh
Haven't you watched Terminator?
Aw man I've been waiting for SIM ejector tool pr0n like this for ages!
Wow just wow.
@Sarcasme
When will the white SIM ejector tool be available?
The ejector 'tool' I received with my iPhone was a paperclip.
I'm confused. What's so amazing here?
@LiqwidZero
Apparently you have bought an iPhone intended for international distribution, which lacks this piece of high liquid metal technology as export is banned for security reasons.
For some reason I just imagined Steve Jobs springing out of a vat water tank after his skeleton being traced with liquidmetal superalloy.
World's most expensive toothpick
So it has a Liquidmetal Peker ???
Apple plans to integrate the metal into future products
So, does this mean that I will be able to melt my Iprod w/ a blowtorch until it's a shimmering metal puddle and it will rise up better.., faster.., stronger?
I don't think it's liquidmetal, cause the article in discover magazine made it seem way more durable than that.
And here I was thinking Google was behind Skynet!
interesting tech being horribly used. no surprise though.
re:", the SIM ejector tool that ships with older iPhone units"
Huh? I've bought every iPhone ever made - never seen that "tool".
@57d01352,
My original iPhone came with one, the 3G did not, but my iPhone 4 has one. It's in the booklet that holds the user manual.
@57d01352 not really something to be proud of. look at me, i'm an apple-bot, do you think i'm cool
You've gotta wonder what this is doing to LiquidMetal's stock price. It might be time to get some o'dat LQMT. If they've started off small with these sim ejectors and are expanding to more fundamental components of Macs or portable devices, the stock can only go up UP UP!
@redcurtain,
You don't really have to wonder for long, you just look it up. The stock was up HUGE after this announcement first broke around August 5th.
"Apple's no fan of relying on a sole supplier for anything"
I sure hope this was in jest.
With Apple's financial power now they could build an even bigger SIM ejector tool. One that's big enough to eject a SIM from a football stadium!!!
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/comment/4/2010/08/895ae0e5281bd1dd2dc7f2d2b4585254/original.jpg
i love how the world didn't give a sh!t about liquid metal until apple got hold of them.