Apple Looking Into Scratch Proof Stainless Steel

The US Patent and Trademark Office published yet another patent application this week, revealing that Apple is working on a scratch-resistant stainless steel material according to Apple Insider.

The patent application describes a method of applying a thin layer of nitride on a stainless steel surface to make it resistant to scratches without obscuring the look and feel of the material.

At the moment there isn’t a lot of Apple products that use stainless steel on the surface as all the desktops and notebooks use either aluminum or plastic casings. The only significant product that does use it is the iPhone 4 where it forms the externally-located set of antennas.

Apple’s switch to aluminum for its primary products is partly driven by the material’s durability and reduced weight compared to the plastic that it previously used. Metal is obviously less likely to break off or crack the way plastic does on the older MacBooks as well as the current white model.

Apple is increasingly moving towards using less damage-resistant materials in its products evidenced by its recent agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies to use the company’s metal alloy which is lighter, stronger, and less prone to corrosion.