Rumored ‘Liquid Silicone’ iPhone 17 Cases May Have a Certain Charm
Majin Bu / X
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Last month, an odd report surfaced that Apple might be considering a “Liquid Glass” colorway for the iPhone 17 Pro to match the new interface design in iOS 26. We were somewhat skeptical of that from the start, and became more so as subsequent leaks revealed the full color lineup.
The supposed “Liquid Glass” finish was reportedly designed to exhibit different effects under various lighting conditions, but the report on it came from only one source. Nobody else seems to have seen it, so unless Apple is doing a better job than usual in keeping things under wraps, we ended up writing it off as conjecture.
However, it now appears that perhaps the leaker who shared the information may have been confusing an iPhone finish with an official iPhone case. Today, another leaker, Majin Bu, shared a video on X of what they’re calling the “New Liquid Silcone Case.”
The clip shows a silicone case wrapped around a dummy model of what appears to be an iPhone 17, judging by the dual-camera array. While Majin Bu shared another set of images under the “Liquid Glass” name earlier this month, those were, to put it mildly, ugly and nothing like what Apple would put out under its brand. The video today shows a much simpler and more minimalist Apple-like design.
Still, we’re not sure we can see anything here that justifies the name; it doesn’t look like much more than an everyday grey or black color. However, the case does have one particularly interesting and unique feature that we’ve not seen before from Apple.
There are holes in the two bottom corners that are clearly designed for attaching lanyards (or “phone charms” if you’re like my teenage daughter, who seems to care more about decorating her iPhone than dropping it).
The holes are similar to what we’ve seen on plenty of third-party cases, and many of the cheaper ones actually market them more for bling than protection.
It would be the first time Apple has gone down this road for an iPhone case, although it’s certainly not without precedent. The AirPods Pro 2 were notable for gaining a lanyard attachment in the case, although it remains exclusive to that model; even the latest AirPods 4 haven’t adopted a similar feature.
That makes it hard to say if Apple will follow suit with the third-generation AirPods Pro, which are expected to arrive in the next few months. The company has had an inconsistent history with these features, as exemplified by the 2012 fifth-generation iPod touch, which had a unique pop-out loop attachment that only ever appeared on that single model — and only in the 32 GB and 64 GB versions. It was gone on the subsequent sixth-generation iPod touch, released three years later in 2015, never to return.
Notably, Apple only included a lanyard in the box with the fifth-generation iPod touch, which featured a color-matched strap. The AirPods Pro 2 require customers to purchase a lanyard separately, although Apple has a few third-party options available in its stores.
There’s no guarantee the case shown in this video is an official one made by Apple. It could be a third-party case. The video shared today doesn’t explicitly say it’s an Apple case; however, Majin Bu previously used the name “Liquid Silicone” to refer to what they believed to be “official silicone liquid cases designed by Apple.” Nevertheless, Majin Bu has a mixed track record for accuracy, so we’d recommend taking this one with a grain of salt.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
