The iPhone Fold’s secret weapon could terminate the competition

If Apple ever masters Apple Intelligence – and that’s looking like a long shot right now – the prospect of an iPhone Fold made with “liquid metal” might be a bit unsettling.

AI + liquid metal? We’re looking at a bloody shape shifting T-1000 of Terminator 2: Judgement Day fame aren’t we?

Thankfully, our over-active imaginations and penchant for eighties and nineties sci-fi is getting the better of us again. Because, while liquid metal remains synonymous with Robert Patrick’s tech assassin, that’s not the purpose here according to the erstwhile Apple Watcher Ming-Chi Kuo.

An iPhone Fold with a liquid metal in the hinge hinge could help eliminate the crease in the display, which is a major drawback of foldable handsets and something Apple has probably been looking to eliminate ahead of its protracted entry into the market. It could enable Apple to supplant the best foldable phones on the market if the iPhone Fold materialises in 2026.

“The latest industry survey points out that in order to improve the durability, screen flatness and crease-free screen of the foldable iPhone, Apple will use liquid metal materials for key component bearings (hinge) and process them through die casting,” Kuo says in a post on X (translated).

Kuo points out that Apple has used liquid metal before. In fact, that little pin that’s used to pop out the old iPhone SIM tray is made of the stuff. Considering that’s little more than a paper clip, it’d be good to see the tech used for something that actually has a positive effect on an iPhone’s design and functionality.

And there’s not actually any liquid in the material, by the way. The name comes from the die-casting technique that creates extra strong and precise components without the need for additional finishing.