If there is one thing that we’re sure many iPhone users will be happy to do without, it would be the handset’s home button. This is probably one of the most used components of the phone which is why it tends to fail first which can be pretty annoying. However it seems that a recent patent has suggested that Apple could be working to change that.
According to the patent, it has suggested that Apple is exploring the idea of using liquidmetal in the home button. As liquidmetal is said to be better at being able to bounce back to its original state after deforming, it could result in a home button that could fail less often and potentially reduce the number of repairs.
Apple has long toyed with the idea of using liquidmetal in its products although to date, the only liquidmetal component in Apple’s products would be the SIM ejector tool that comes bundled with the iPhone. In addition to the use of liquidmetal, the patent also suggests that because of the use of liquidmetal that Apple could reinvent the home button that would be pressure sensitive.
This will be done by measuring the change in resistance as opposed to when it makes contact when the button is depressed, thus leading to possible 3D Touch-like features. Once again this isn’t the first time we have heard of such an idea. Just last month Apple had patented a similar idea, but as is the case with all patents, there’s really no telling if and when Apple will make them a reality.