Apple has recently licensed Liquidmetal Technology’s intellectual property—space-age metal alloys that are as strong as titanium but use one-third of the material as well as scratch and corrosion-proof. The alloy technology has been around for a few years, but the new buzz around the Apple deal is in part due to a prototype casting machine that aims to make producing the parts more efficiently.

The prototype machine is based on a Buhler cold-chamber diecasting machine. The Cult of Mac blog has been covering the news closely. According to a recent article on The Cult of Mac, Apple is expected to use the amorphous alloys for iPhone antennas and seamless gadget cases with holographic logos cast into the metal.