iFixit wasn’t content with tearing apart a brand new iPad 2, so the company took apart the tablet’s Smart Cover, too. What the found was more than just a hinge a leather sheet. They also found 21 magnets.
The Smart Cover is Apple’s own iPad 2 cover. It attaches via to the iPad via a magnetic hinge and locks in place with a magnetic latch. It also includes a sensor component that sleeps the iPad when closed, and wakes it back up again when open — much like a laptop lid.
Apple’s Smart Cover: Magnet-palooza
The magnets in the Smart Cover work along with 10 additional magnets in the iPad itself. Four magnets in the cover and four in the iPad 2 hold the cover in place when closed. There’s a sensor in the iPad that detects when a fifth magnet in the cover is near and triggers the sleep or wake function.
The Smart Case hinge includes a set of magnets that align with matching magnets inside the iPad body. They’re polarized to help the cover attach in the right place every time.
There’s also a metal plate inside the cover that the remaining magnets attach to when the whole contraption is folded into a stand, along with a could plastic panels to help keep everything shaped right.
Apple’s deceptively simple Smart Cover is available in polyurethane or leather in five colors for each material type. It is priced at US$39 and $69, respectively.