Noted teardown firm iFixit reported today that it has performed a teardown of the Apple's highly-publicized Smart Cover for the iPad 2, revealing a plethora of magnets inside the device to keep it aligned on the surface of the iPad and to turn the iPad on and off.
There are a total of THIRTY ONE magnets within the iPad 2 and Smart Cover: 10 magnets in the iPad 2, and a whopping 21 magnets inside the Smart Cover. They're the reason why the cover works so well with the iPad 2.
Long, thin magnets are embedded in the sides of the iPad in order to hold the Smart Cover firmly in place on the left side and keep the cover closed on the right side.
iPad 2 sleep sensor (red) and magnets for keeping cover closed (yellow)
A single round magnet in the rightmost panel of the Smart Cover interacts with a sleep sensor embedded in the right edge of the iPad to turn the iPad on and off as the cover is opened and closed.
Steel plate (red) and 15 magnets (yellow) interact to stabilize stand
The Smart Cover is broken into four panels to allow it to fold into a triangular shape to serve as a stand. A total of 15 magnets in the rightmost panel of the cover are used to bond to a steel plate in the leftmost panel to stabilize the stand.
Apple offers polyurethane Smart Covers in five colors priced at $39 each, with leather covers also available in an additional five colors for $69 each.
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Friday February 21, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple finally released the first beta of iOS 18.4 to developers for testing purposes, and while the beta is lacking some of the Apple Intelligence features we were hoping for, there are some notable new additions.
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Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence
There is a new Priority Notifications feature that can show you your most...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Friday February 21, 2025 11:06 am PST by Juli Clover
In iOS 18.4, there's a new Ambient Music option that can be added to Control Center. There are four different sound categories, including Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.
Each category can be added to Control Center separately, and tapping one plays a random selection of sounds or music from that particular category.
You can't choose what's playing from Control Center, but if...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Friday February 21, 2025 8:01 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has confirmed that its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e has nothing to do with the device's lack of MagSafe support, according to Macworld.
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, there was some speculation online about how MagSafe magnets might have interfered with the C1 modem's cellular connectivity performance, and this was considered to be a potential reason for the...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Thursday February 20, 2025 8:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Oppo has launched the Find N5, the world's thinnest foldable phone yet. When closed, the book-style foldable measures 8.93mm. That's less than a millimeter thicker than an iPhone 16 Pro, and thinner than the Honor Magic V3, which was the previous record holder.
The device is barely thicker than its USB-C port. Indeed, Oppo has suggested that the obstacle to making it any thinner is now "the...
