Ever hear of MIM?
Yes, carbon steels can be molded. So can real super-alloys like Inconel. This is a cute alloy, but it has some significant downsides, which I’m guessing Apple will discover in due time, just as the golf club makers did.
The big upside is that it is cheap to make into complex shapes. The secondary upside will be scratch and dent resistance. After that, I quit being real enthused about these types of metals.
Since I’m often on lathes and mills making parts out of various metals, I guess I’m just harder to impress with this announcement. The only real upside for Apple here is that they might reduce their manufacturing cost on some of their aluminum enclosures, some of which they’re making by CNC machining of a billet of aluminum.
I'm genuinely curious as to what these downsides are. The positives that you mentioned are precisely what makes these alloys attractive to a manufacturer like Apple, but I'm not aware of the drawbacks you mention.
I know that they have a relatively low melting point, but still high enough that it ought not to be a concern for use as a laptop case.
I'm no golfer but why would a golf club maker think a more elastic metal would be a positive thing?
I think that was a bit of hubris, not fully tested. This alloy is extremely springy, which theoretically made it awesome for a golf club face, as it would rebound a golf ball better. Turns out though that formulation could crack after repeated impacts with a golf ball.
The big upside is that it is cheap to make into complex shapes. The secondary upside will be scratch and dent resistance.
I think that's 99% of the attractiveness in this application. Apple obviously is fed up with weak plastics, which is why you see so much machined aluminum. But aluminum has a problem of being relatively heavy, and it has to be expensively machined for Apple's needs. A lighter metal that can be effectively injection molded like plastic sounds like Ives' wet dream.