I don't think Apple did acquire LiquidMetal (that might be what you mean, but it reads as if you think they paid over the odds for the acquisition) -- they acqu

I don't think Apple did acquire LiquidMetal (that might be what you mean, but it reads as if you think they paid over the odds for the acquisition) -- they acquired a licence for their IP in 2010, renewed in 2012, and in 2015 established a licence in perpetuity for consumer uses of the technology (I suppose 'consumer' is a useful distinction because there may be military applications for it). Apple has been filing its own patents for liquid metal alloys and technology since then. It's still a nascent area, but Apple has had a consistent broad thematic focus on materials science in R&D for the last ~7-8 years, so I'm not sure how one could reliably determine this licence to have not panned out. As far as I know the only direct application of the technology we can see today remains the SIM-removal tool shipped with each iPhone.