IMPORTANT: Don't buy Touch cases with Magnets in them!!! [Archive]

Johnny Backer

Feb 10, 2008, 05:18 PM

OK, so I've created a few threads here reporting about my iPod Touch locking up where I have to reset it by holding down the two buttons for 10 seconds. I have done some troubleshooting and have determined the problem today.

This is VERY IMPORTANT. It turns out from what I have discovered is that it was my case: http://store.apple-touch.com/content/accessories/4-22--3116.htm

Perhaps cases with magnets in a different area would be ok, I don't know. I HAVE DETERMINED though, magnets at the bottom on one or both sides of the front circle button is NOT GOOD.

I've had two different iPod Touches crashing on me. One was /A and one /B One on 1.1.2 and one with 1.1.3 with apps. I've been running my new one, a /B with 1.1.3 and apps without any case for a while and it hadn't crashed. I decided I could put it back in my case, the one linked to above. I put it on my desk. It was sitting there for 30 minutes or less. I pick it up and flip open the lid. As I open the lid, I see the screen flash white and then the apple logo appears from the clean boot or whatever you want to call it. Mind you, the screen flashed white the INSTANT I open the lid.

What I believe is happening is that the magnets in the case are pulling something within the iPod Touch and shorting or causing some problem. I am 99% sure that this is the problem I have been having for the past two weeks with my two different iPod Touches.

Perhaps if you have a case that doesn't have as strong of magnets as the case I've mentioned, you may not experience this problem.

I am taking my case back and am going to look for something else that hopefully still has some type of flip lid to protect my screen, but not hold it on with magnets.

I send this out as a warning to all would be buyers of the case mentioned above or any case that may have magnets in, no matter how weak or strong they may be. You will save yourself a lot of headaches if you simply avoid purchasing any case with magnets.

I hope this helps people steer clear of the problems I've had to endure over these past two weeks.

If anybody knows of a iPod Touch case that does have a hard protection for the screen like the one I've mentioned and that doesn't use magnets, I am interested in a link or its name.

Thank you.

BrownManUPS

Feb 10, 2008, 05:36 PM

If anybody knows of a iPod Touch case that does have a hard protection for the screen like the one I've mentioned and that doesn't use magnets, I am interested in a link or its name.

I use the Griffin "Reflect" Case. It's nice and comes with a screen protector!

RodThePlod

Feb 10, 2008, 06:09 PM

I send this out as a warning to all would be buyers of the case mentioned above or any case that may have magnets in, no matter how weak or strong they may be. You will save yourself a lot of headaches if you simply avoid purchasing any case with magnets.

Might be an idea for you to contact Griffin to see if they have had any other reports of this type of problem with their cases...

Rod.

Fearless Leader

Feb 10, 2008, 06:14 PM

Umm magnets, unless really powerful don't have, a long range of effect. I'm waving a pretty strong magnet across my iphone and its doing nada.

efedor

Feb 10, 2008, 06:30 PM

I have the same case, and I have yet to have a problem with it. Maybe its a matter of when it was made? But i love the case, and no sigle problem, Ive had it for 2 months.

gowanis

Feb 10, 2008, 06:41 PM

i have the DLO Hipcase with magnets and have had no related problems.

megatronbomb

Feb 10, 2008, 06:51 PM

If this really were an issue, I'm sure Apple would warn customers and case manufacturers.

Virgil-TB2

Feb 10, 2008, 06:52 PM

OK, so I've created a few threads here reporting about my iPod Touch locking up ....IT IS IMPORTANT that you actually test your claims and actually have some evidence of this effect. I HAVE DETERMINED that you are just blowing a lot of wind and have no proof of this at all.

Seriously, why the long-winded post that proves nothing yet scares everyone? :confused:

- what test did you perform to determine your result?
- what does the manufacturer say about it?
- how many others have this problem?

bodhammer

Feb 10, 2008, 07:53 PM

I have no problems with a DLO Hipcase.

br1anc

Feb 10, 2008, 07:56 PM

i have the DLO Hipcase with magnets and have had no related problems.
same here.

i actually wondered if the magnets in the case would do anything, but i decided that the magnets weren't strong enough to do anything. so, i haven't worried about it any.

mekopolis

Feb 10, 2008, 08:08 PM

I recently bought the leather Flip Griffin Case for my ipod touch with two magnets down near the battery, and noticed it locked up the touch twice (when the touch was in the case for less than 1 minute) and required the home screen and sleep button to be held down for ten seconds roughly to reset it...

needless to say, I returned the case and will not buy any case with magnets in it (i didn't notice them at first)

brian9271

Feb 10, 2008, 08:33 PM

Its for sure the magnets, because the magnets moves the stuff inside the ipod touch and so on...;)

Hook

Feb 10, 2008, 08:35 PM

Case magnets are NOT a problem. They are fairly weak. I know the Touch has no external speaker, but if magnets were a problem than PDAs with built in speakers would never make it off the shelf.:rolleyes: I used A Sena case with magnets on my PDA for years. In fact, the SD card storage was next to those magnets. No problems, ever.

The case manufacturer knows whether or not a magnet is going to cause harm.

It's fine to be cautious if you are uncomfortable with it, but, as others have said, don't start a scare without evidence.

brian9271

Feb 10, 2008, 08:40 PM

Hook

Feb 10, 2008, 08:56 PM

But are you sure, did you even check how strong the magnets are? You never know... You could risk it, this problem is not that rare you know

And your evidence for that last statement is?

No, I have not tested the specific case mentioned here, nor do I actually yet have a touch. However, I know enough about cases with magnets to know that clasp magnets, which have a much weaker magnetic field than your average PDA speaker, present no threat to electronics and storage media. Therefore, short of compelling evidence, I am going to assume that the manufacturer of these cases are using standard issue clasp magnets.

A few complaints in a forum is not a case of "not that rare." Forums always exaggerate problems since people come to them when they have problems (or questions) and not when things are going well. :)

Just my take on the situation. You should do whatever makes you comfortable.

brian9271

Feb 10, 2008, 09:08 PM

Well there you go Hook... You don't have a Touch and how would you know that a PDA has the same things as a Touch ;)

Virgil-TB2

Feb 10, 2008, 09:10 PM

Its for sure the magnets, because the magnets moves the stuff inside the ipod touch and so on...;)No, this is wrong.

The click-wheel on the nano uses tiny little metal gears that might indeed be affected by the magnet. The touch's gears on the other hand are teflon and thus not affected.

The teflon gears *do* need to be lubricated now and then though so you might try cracking open the case and putting just a smidge of toothpaste on the main click-wheel gear. ;)

brian9271

Feb 10, 2008, 09:13 PM

No, this is wrong.

The click-wheel on the nano uses tiny little metal gears that might indeed be affected by the magnet. The touch's gears on the other hand are teflon and thus not affected.

The teflon gears *do* need to be lubricated now and then though so you might try cracking open the case and putting just a smidge of toothpaste on the main click-wheel gear. ;)

Why would you want to put toothpaste on the main click wheel gear, you would just ruin it ;)

Kkatyboo

Feb 10, 2008, 09:32 PM

ahh! my ipod is a flip case too... are you sureits the magnetsr? ive had this case for maybe a month now and nothing is wrong.

Johnny Backer

Feb 11, 2008, 12:03 AM

Umm magnets, unless really powerful don't have, a long range of effect. I'm waving a pretty strong magnet across my iphone and its doing nada.

Hi Fearless, can you try using the magnet and not waving it, but putting it up against it and then pulling it away. Can you please test this on the front of it at the bottom where the front circle button is?

I'm really quite interested in peoples results with this. Mine is a 2008 week 1. I'd especially be interested in anybody testing with magnets on the same 2008 week 1 touch.

Like some said, I did a long winded post. I don't really know how people wish me to prove it. I'm afraid I don't have the time to prove it... and to be honest, I'm not going to go waving the magnets in front of my Touch again to prove (or disprove) it. Maybe I made the title a little too dramatic, but I said to myself, I wish somebody had only warned me the same way before I purchased my iPod Touch case, so that I could at least make a decision that would avoid the POSSIBLE problem.

If anybody else can confirm magnets cause a problem as they are put at the bottom of the screen and pulled away from the iPhone / Touch, it would help confirm the problem.

As for me, I have already picked the two cases that I've settled on to replace the magnet one I mentioned. The one I had that caused this problem was bought when I bought my Touch, just because they had it and not really for any preference other than that it had the hard cover to the screen.

My new protection will include my Touch encased with the iFrogz http://ifrogz.com/products.php?cat=352&wrap_overlay=4054|touchtreadz case and then the Golla Camo http://store.apple-touch.com/content/accessories/4-25--2994.htm

Magnet free setup and pretty spiffy protection.

I hope somebody else is able to confirm these magnet problems. :(

deschipper

Feb 11, 2008, 08:00 AM

I seem to have a similarproblem altough I don't know if it's related to the magnets. When I connect the Ipod to the USB cable the system crashes sometimes.
I will check now, if it's happening when the ipod is in the case.

Fearless Leader

Feb 11, 2008, 08:06 AM

Hi Fearless, can you try using the magnet and not waving it, but putting it up against it and then pulling it away. Can you please test this on the front of it at the bottom where the front circle button is?

Hi,

I moved the magnet on my iphone just like I think a case would open, nada. This is my strongest non-electric magnet (i really don't want to go stronger than the electro magnets because they can erase hard drives, etc). It can move a fork with about 1/2" of wood between it and the fork. I also tried some magnets that would be the same size and strength, again nothing.

Sorry,

I don't doubt that there is something wrong going on with your touch (or maybe all touches), I'm just not able to recreate the results with your diagnosis.

Johnny Backer

Feb 11, 2008, 02:49 PM

Hi,

I moved the magnet on my iphone just like I think a case would open, nada. This is my strongest non-electric magnet (i really don't want to go stronger than the electro magnets because they can erase hard drives, etc). It can move a fork with about 1/2" of wood between it and the fork. I also tried some magnets that would be the same size and strength, again nothing.

Sorry,

I don't doubt that there is something wrong going on with your touch (or maybe all touches), I'm just not able to recreate the results with your diagnosis.

Thanks anyways. I guess this is good news, but really from what I found out for mine, it really does seem to be the magnets. I guess I could be completely wrong, but it sure looked like the magnets or perhaps something in the case was causing problems. Oh well. My new cases are ordered and I'm still taking my other one back. Probably more of a run around than I needed. I wonder if it has something to do with the fibers in the case that are the soft leather, (shorting out?). I really have no idea now though.

I think your magnet you tested with was more than enough so it really should disprove that it isn't the small magnets in my case.

Sorry if I panicked anyone. I'd still like to hear if anybody does start to have problems later on in their iPod Touches life with this case. After I was a little panicked myself, I'm not taking the chance with mine though.

quicklook2

Feb 11, 2008, 03:32 PM

my griffin convertible works perfect on my touch.

the cover magnets give me zero problem.

deschipper

Feb 13, 2008, 08:04 AM

I took my device out of the case and connected it without any problems.
It has definitely something to do with the case.

ArchiMark

Feb 14, 2008, 11:59 AM

FWIW, I've used DLO leather flip case for over a month with my Touch with no problems....

:)

laurien612

Feb 22, 2008, 09:19 PM

I just bought the leather flip top case and within seconds after closing the case my i-pod touch screen went blank. Coincidence, I think not.

quicklook2

Feb 22, 2008, 09:27 PM

I just bought the leather flip top case and within seconds after closing the case my i-pod touch screen went blank. Coincidence, I think not.

i have the same case and have zero problems.

coincidence, i think not.

ErikCLDR

Feb 22, 2008, 10:48 PM

Ollie1216

Feb 23, 2008, 12:05 AM

I just bought the leather flip top case and within seconds after closing the case my i-pod touch screen went blank. Coincidence, I think not.

Are you sure you didn't put it in the case - shiny side up?

That would make a difference.....:D:D

laurien612

Feb 24, 2008, 11:48 AM

quicklook2

Feb 24, 2008, 11:51 AM

OK, I'm wrong, it's not the case. I took the ipod and put it back in the case and ran the magnets over it numerous times, no problems. I ran the magnets over it outside of the case, no problems. I kept the case and am using it now. I have no clue as to why it did it, but I can't duplicate the problem.

glad it is working ok.

maybe when you were putting into the case you pressed both buttons in some sort of strange way that confused the system.

christopher3071

Mar 9, 2008, 08:56 PM

If anyone has seen the mythbusters episode about the credit cards they'll know that magnets don't affect them as much as popular belief leads people to think. That being said, I took a magnet of the same exact type and through my ipod case attached it to my iPod touch. No effect whatsoever. If you ask me, I think the issue is a faulty batch of iPods, because this one's just fine. I was actually surprised nothing happened when I subjected it to such magnetic power. You may say it was a dumb move but I know a lot about magnets. I do know that these magnets are a good way to render an iPod Mini/Video/Classic hard drive completely useless.. but as for flash based equipment, you're pretty safe, definitely from the tiny magnets in those cases. My $0.02

felinawi

Apr 1, 2008, 07:54 PM

Well I am sorry guys ... the the magnets DO affect the ipod touch and we have proven it. I had a brand new ipod touch... and it worked perfectly... I bought the Incipio Kickstand Case (http://www.myincipio.com/category/1_mp3_accessories.device.apple_ipod.device.1_ipod_touch_8gb_16gb/)

and after I received it in the mail and put my ipod in it ... my ipod would NOT turn on. I was of course really freaking out. I finally got it to turn on after taking it out of the case. So I played with it for awhile and all was fine... I put it back in and within 1/2 hour it did the same thing. ...

So then I thought well maybe its just my ipod and I asked my daughter if she would try her ipod in it... she gave me a look... but she said ok. Well after 10 minutes her ipod was still ok.. so she let it sit and we checked it an hour later and sure enough it would not turn on or do ANYTHING! She never had any issues until this.

I am NOT saying all cases with magnets will do this to your ipod and it does not look like it permanently hurt it. But who wants to take that risk when they are so expensive?? Not I.

I should also note that Incipio does not advertise they have magnets in the case.

If anyone has seen the mythbusters episode about the credit cards they'll know that magnets don't affect them as much as popular belief leads people to think. That being said, I took a magnet of the same exact type and through my ipod case attached it to my iPod touch. No effect whatsoever. If you ask me, I think the issue is a faulty batch of iPods, because this one's just fine. I was actually surprised nothing happened when I subjected it to such magnetic power. You may say it was a dumb move but I know a lot about magnets. I do know that these magnets are a good way to render an iPod Mini/Video/Classic hard drive completely useless.. but as for flash based equipment, you're pretty safe, definitely from the tiny magnets in those cases. My $0.02

aethelbert

Apr 1, 2008, 08:02 PM

grapes911

Apr 1, 2008, 08:22 PM

(i really don't want to go stronger than the electro magnets because they can erase hard drives, etc).

Most magnets have no effect on solid state hard drives, including the flash hard drive in an iPhone or Touch. I say most because theoretically a magnet could effect a flash drive but it would have to be pretty strong. The common example is that for a magnet to be powerful enough to delete data on a flash drive, the magnet would also be powerful enough to suck the iron right out of your blood.

MasterMaz

Apr 1, 2008, 09:52 PM

You could sue them for screwing up your ipod touches :)

crmccashin

Apr 2, 2008, 06:55 PM

JFYI,
I've had mine in a DLO Hipcase (with two magnets on bottom of flap) for about three months with NO adverse affects........

cdcapano

Apr 8, 2008, 01:57 PM

I purchased a Griffin Elan Convertible back in February and had the same problem (Ipod Touch locks up when in case, fine when out). So, I called Griffin and talked to a service rep (side bar: Griffin has the most amazing customer service ever: no waiting, you talk to an American who speaks English, and they are very courteous). He said that it seems that a few of their models had shipped with magnets that were too strong and cause this problem. He offered to let me send it in and they would test it and replace it. So, I sent mine in, and a couple weeks later he responded via email and said he had tested my case on their Ipod for several days, but hadn't had any trouble. Still, he said he would send me a new case which he had also tested and hadn't had any trouble.

After I got the new case -- which did seem to have weaker magnets -- I put my Ipod Touch in it and, sure enough, no trouble... but only for a few days. After several days I started having the same problem again (note that this was different than the first case, in which I had the problem immediately). The trouble has increased in frequency since then.

Based on what I've read here, and from talking to the service rep, it seems like some Touch's are sensitive to magnets and some aren't. Why that is, is beyond me, but I plan to go to my local Apple store when I get a chance to take this up with them. It kind of bothers me that my Ipod has this issue when others don't; it makes me wonder what the long term effects could be. When I find out, I'll post an update.

On a side note, I, personally, would appreciate it if those who have not had this problem not be so demeaning as some comments further up on this post have been. Just because one does not have a problem that someone else reports does not mean the problem does not exist, and putting down people for that is pointless, rude, and childish. Different Ipods are manufactured in different places and probably with different standards from factory to factory; taking an experience from one Ipod and applying it to all others is short-sighted.

deschipper

Apr 9, 2008, 06:37 AM

I tried to recreate the problem the past month and it didn't crash. However, when I connected the ipod this weekend, after a few moments it stopped responding.
It only occurs when the case is closed and connection with itunes is established.
So when my ipod is connected to my pc, I keep the case open, so the magnets can't interfere.
I never had any problems with the magnets when the ipod is in use; only when connected to the pc.

HitchHykr

Apr 9, 2008, 04:35 PM

Umm magnets, unless really powerful don't have, a long range of effect. I'm waving a pretty strong magnet across my iphone and its doing nada.

Could you put the magnet on top of the button and drop iPhone/magnet combo on the floor from about 4 ft and report back the results?

Thanks!

Arisian

Apr 10, 2008, 09:40 AM

Umm magnets, unless really powerful don't have, a long range of effect. I'm waving a pretty strong magnet across my iphone and its doing nada.

I attach my iPod touch to my hip every day with a high powered magnet and nothing has happened so far... except....

I purchased a Griffin Elan Convertible back in February and had the same problem (Ipod Touch locks up when in case, fine when out). So, I called Griffin and talked to a service rep (side bar: Griffin has the most amazing customer service ever: no waiting, you talk to an American who speaks English, and they are very courteous). He said that it seems that a few of their models had shipped with magnets that were too strong and cause this problem. He offered to let me send it in and they would te... ... weaker magnets -- I put my Ipod Touch in it and, sure enough, no trouble... but only for a few days. After several days I started having the same ... ...some aren't. Why that is, is beyond me, but I plan to go to my local Apple store when I get a chance to take this up with them. It kind of bothers me that my Ipod has this issue when others don't; it makes me wonder what the long term effects could be. When I find out, I'll post an update.

On a side note, I, personally, would appreciate it if those who have not had this problem not be so demeaning as some comments further up on this post have been. Just because one does not have a problem that someone else reports does not mean the problem does not exist, and putting down people for that is pointless, rude, and childish. Different Ipods are manufactured in different places and probably with different standards from factory to factory; taking an experience from one Ipod and applying it to all others is short-sighted.

My honest opinion is that the magnet is not doing this to anyone. The only way to test this hypothesis would be to play the same song on the same ipod with teh same setup for 4 or 5 days and see if it messed up. Seems like the magnet issue is not the REAL issue.

Please dont read this comment as my lack of sympathy, because it really does suck to have a $400 gadget screw up on you.

Good luck,
Arisian

Bichiliad

Apr 10, 2008, 05:51 PM

I've been having issues with my iPod Touch... but not because of magnets.

I have this case, and I really like it because its funky. No magnets, velcro instead.

http://ipod-touch-cases.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/ipodtouchleatherfoliocasepic1.jpg

What case is that?

Before I look like a blundering idiot, I DO know that solid state drives are far more magnet resistant than hard drives (hence why there's no magnetic iPod Classic or iPod Video cases). However, an iPod isn't just a solid state drive. There's more to it than that... maybe another device inside the iPod is malfunctioning due to the magnets.

Now my own horror story...
I too had a Griffin Convertible. Worked beautifully, looked nice, and i like the fact that its a profile case. After a few days, however, (4 to be precise) my iPod would periodically freeze in mid-app and then return to the homescreen. The device would also periodically crash. I narrowed it down to the case and, upon taking it out and restarting it, my iPod worked like a charm. Just to be sure, I put it back in, and noticed problems again. Thankfully, its still under warranty, so I may just return it. I also emailed a Griffin rep to let them know, but I'm assuming that by now they have picked up on this problem. I haven't done anything to my iPod recently besides update it with newer podcasts (I haven't even added any apps) so I'm pretty set on the magnets being, in some shape or form, a problem.

I'll let you know what Griffin tells me when they do.

Wow, that was a really fast response time.

Their response was as follows:

"I am sorry this has happened. The Griffin Elan Convertible for iPod Touch has been fully tested, both by our Quality Assurance team and by Apple, and the case has been approved for use with the iPod Touch.

We have also heard the reports of this happening, but have never been able to reproduce the issue with any of the cases customers have sent us. The conclusion seems to be that problem will only occur with specific iPod Touch's. Because this happens with your iPod Touch, a replacement Elan Convertible would probably encounter the same issue. Your case does have a one year warranty, however, and if you would like, we would be more than happy to exchange your case for any iPod Touch case we make. If you want to do this, please call us at 1-800-208-5996 and we will be glad to help you. We are open 9am-6pm CST Monday through Thursday, and 9am-5pm CST on Fridays.

Have a great day.

Whit"

This leads me to think that maybe there is some variant in an iPod component. Regardless, I'm getting a new case.

felinawi

Apr 11, 2008, 12:24 AM

You know its really irritating for people to act as if people who had problem with magnets in cases are stupid. I have proved its SOME cases with magnets, I mean come on, no problems, get a case with magnets and your touch will not turn on.. take it out and hook it up to a computer and do a hard reset and its ok... until you try and put it in a case again and there is a problem again! Then have your daughter with a touch .. who never had a problem with her touch try it and after an hour her touch will not turn on...

IT's THE MAGNETS and U guess if you are willing to risk your $400-$500 new ipod then hey go for it.

I am NOT saying its all cases with magnets casuse the problems because the DLO's seem ok... and I just got one that has the mag that positions in the mid of the case and its ok, this was off ebay, if you want the link let me know... it really is a nice case... but I had the incipico kickstand and it did have an affect on my ipod touch. And Incipico admitted they had other complaints.. and they did not post the review I placed on this case.. what does that tell you... now they only have the brown one available (I bought the black one and its no longer sold)... I bet they will not be selling any more of these unless its redesigned.

Take this for what its worth... me and all the others saying that some magnets affect the ipod touch... but stop being so annoying and calling us liars when we have tested it with and without the magnet case... sheesh... we are NOT STUPID!

Bichiliad

Apr 11, 2008, 04:00 PM

One more thing...
Has anyone else noticed PROLONGED effects, even after removing the iPod? My iPod crashes less, but it still crashes from time to time and won't stop till I reboot it.

andyh2008

Apr 24, 2008, 08:56 AM

My god I can't believe it. I bought a new iPod touch a couple of weeks ago & then went & downloaded the January software update & a Griffin leather case (the same as yours) for it. Then I noticed it started freezing after I'd left it in standby for a while - sometimes I flipped the lid & saw the white apple logo, just like it was rebooting in response to me opening the case. Most times it was just dead & I had to hard reboot it. Today I've been taking it around with me without the case to see if that could have been something to do with it - and it's been fine! I would never have believed it. It can only be those magnets, however unlikely it sounds. I'm going to take the case back (if I can get the packaging out of the bin) to see if I can get a refund!

MacCracker

Apr 24, 2008, 10:49 AM

Adding to the claims and counter claims on this one, I have used a generic Milante leather case with magnetic closure with an iPhone for a full year with no adverse effects.

Without some controlled experimentation that ensures the lockups are correlated, I must side with the camp that believes they are unrelated.

Anyone out there with multiple touch devices and the time and discipline to run a controlled experiment?

7on

Apr 24, 2008, 11:55 AM

Most magnets have no effect on solid state hard drives, including the flash hard drive in an iPhone or Touch. I say most because theoretically a magnet could effect a flash drive but it would have to be pretty strong. The common example is that for a magnet to be powerful enough to delete data on a flash drive, the magnet would also be powerful enough to suck the iron right out of your blood.

Maybe the poster is Magneto?

andyh2008

Apr 25, 2008, 09:04 AM

Ok, I've changed my case from this one (with magnets :mad:):

http://store.apple-touch.com/store_images/product_images/accessories/large/3116.jpg

to this (without a magnet in sight :)):

http://store.apple-touch.com/store_images/product_images/accessories/large/3117.jpg

and now it's working perfectly. It was worth the extra £3 and also the grovelling in the bottom of the bin to retrieve the plastic packaging so I could take it back.

For all you doubters, the touch screen works because "Capacitive sensors behind the glass sense when the electrical field is disturbed" - http://www.ipodobserver.com/story/31942. Surely then, flapping a couple of magnets around while opening & closing the case lid will send some seriously disturbing signals to the capacitive sensors, therefore producing the screwed-up symptoms I was experiencing.

http://images.apple.com/iphone/features/images/technology_hero20071019.png

Bichiliad

Apr 25, 2008, 03:41 PM

But it causes one to wonder... would an interference with an input device really cause software crashes? Thats like me taking my mouse and smashing it with a hammer. Sure, it won't work anymore, but shouldn't the computer still be fine?

Eh I might just restore mine and take it to a genius bar somewhere :D

andyh2008

Apr 26, 2008, 06:37 AM

would an interference with an input device really cause software crashes? Thats like me taking my mouse and smashing it with a hammer. Sure, it won't work anymore, but shouldn't the computer still be fine?I'm a PC technician. I've seen faulty mice screwing up the PC. New mouse = problem gone!

Insulin Junkie

May 5, 2008, 08:42 AM

Hmm good for the people who are not experiencing any troubles!

I have a weird problem not described but I do think it may have something to do with the magnet in the iPod touch case I bought today in the morning.

I have a 32GB iPod I bought last friday, no problems at all. I bought a Xspect leather case with a clasp magnet and put the iPod in. A minute afterwards the screen shrinks slightly (a small white frame appears around the edges of the screen), and the iPod flashes when I turn the screen off.

I took the iPod out of the case, and after a few minutes (and a reboot) the white frame was gone, though I still get a small minor flash when I turn the screen off.

Faulty iPod? Coincidence? I don't know, just thought I'd share.

davidy

May 5, 2008, 10:51 AM

Even though I've not had any problem with my case - cheap, Chinese, with magnet catch - I've followed this thread with interest. Apparently those of you who are having problems have narrowed the cause down to the magnets in the cases. I accept that your experiences have been properly tested and are real. Those of you (us) who aren't having this problem should accept what the others are saying and back off with the negative comments.

To those of you who have the magnet problem, what has Apple done for you to rectify the problem? Do they acknowledge that the problem exists? Have they offered and solution?

As a relevant aside, moving a magnet past a wire will induce an electrical current in that wire. So it is entirely possible that moving a magnet over or past the iPod touch will induce a stray electrical signal somewhere in the device and cause unpredictable results. In a properly designed, grounded and shielded device, it shouldn't happen, but that's the only explanation in this case.

officerdick

May 5, 2008, 10:55 AM

It has to be a hefty manget then. Capacity is of static force, sounds wierd that magnets would effect it much.

MacRy

May 5, 2008, 11:37 AM

Chalk me up as another one who has had problems with the Griffin Elan Convertible for the iPod Touch. I purchased it when I first got my Touch and it kept having to be reset because it would lock up and become unresponsive. I thought it might have been because I had hacked my iPod but I stopped using the case and never had any further issues. I subsequently bought an iPhone and gave my wife the Touch and she put it back in the Elan Convertible and it kept locking up again (this is several months after I had the issues). This conclusively proved to me that the magnets were having some kind of adverse effect. I contacted Griffin in the US (what fantastic service by the way) and received the same email from Whit that someone posted earlier in the thread, explaining that they were aware of some people having these issues with certain iPod Touch's and that they would replace the case for any other model that I wanted.

okkine

Jun 15, 2008, 04:50 AM

I know it's been over a month since anyone posted here, but I thought I'd post anyway.

I received a 16 gig iPod Touch for Christmas. It has worked beautifully for the last six months. Then I purchased the same Griffin flip case, and soon noticed that it would start freezing up on me (I never made the connection between the case and the freezing until recently). It was fine as long as it was left sitting on the desk, but as soon as I would start walking, or even sitting in the car or bus, it would freeze, unable to turn it on. Doing a hard reboot of the device worked for a while, but after about a week I couldn't even reboot (nor would iTunes detect it when I attached it to the usb). I took it to Apple, and they replaced it.... but the very next day the new one started doing the same thing. After another week, it also stopped responding to the attempted reboots. This time I took it to apple, and iTunes could detect it, but it could not run the restore function on it. Again they replaced it. So far the new one is working great, but I haven't put it in the case yet. At this point, I'm not even 100% sure if it is the magnets, or just a bad coincidence. I'm planning on waiting for a few days (maybe a week) then placing it back in the case to see what happens.

Michaud68

Jun 15, 2008, 09:22 AM

I have the same Griffin Case no problems here but just to be on the safe side I think I'll get a new case better safe than sorry

vincebio

Jun 15, 2008, 09:25 AM

I'm a PC technician. I've seen faulty mice screwing up the PC. New mouse = problem gone!

maybe thats why you use a mac now :D

Bichiliad

Jun 16, 2008, 11:32 AM

um, i use a pc for the most part... is that a BAD thing?

And anyone find a portfolio case WITHOUT magnets?

andyh2008

Jun 16, 2008, 12:21 PM

maybe thats why you use a mac now :D
What makes you think I have a mac :confused:

okkine

Jun 17, 2008, 02:29 AM

um, i use a pc for the most part... is that a BAD thing?

And anyone find a portfolio case WITHOUT magnets?

PC's are fine, it's the magnets that are causing the problem. They do have cases without the magnets, but I haven't seen any that cover the screen, which was the appeal of the ones with the magnets.

Quorlan

Jun 17, 2008, 12:09 PM

I too have had the exact same problems. The moment I stopped using the case with magnets and went back to my old hard-shell case the problems vanished and my iPod Touch has not crashed, rebooted or done funky things on the screen since. Since the problems began within an hour of using the new case and stopped the moment I stopped using the case it HAS to be something with the case causing the problem. Perhaps it's time to take a trip to the apple store with my touch to get it replaced since this problem only seems to manifest itself with certain iPod touches.

Q

salvatorereda

Jun 17, 2008, 12:48 PM

plastic and leather cases kill the design of the iphone and touch
you dont need a case!

Take the case off, it feels better in your hand....

Its really hard to scratch the glass.

grapes911

Jun 17, 2008, 01:20 PM

plastic and leather cases kill the design of the iphone and touch
you dont need a case!

Take the case off, it feels better in your hand....

Its really hard to scratch the glass.

But cases make the phone easier to carry, especially for a business user. My iPhone is connected to my belt at all times via a case. You shouldn't look at everything from one perspective.

Bwilky

Jun 17, 2008, 02:07 PM

I'm pretty sure if you waved a magnet around a ipod with a HD it would start to screw it up. But seeing as the Ipod touch is flash memory that wouldn't be an issue. Or am I wrong?

Quorlan

Jun 17, 2008, 02:08 PM

I don't use a case to protect the screen (though the one I tried with the magnetic clasp was to help protect the screen when it was clipped to my belt) so much as it is to protect the device. I have a tendency to drop things. Things link iPods tend to crack or break when that happens, so the case is important.

Besides, the case I use now adds only a little bit of thickness to the Touch. Just enough that it no longer feels like I'm gonna break the thing if I hold on too tightly.

Q

grapes911

Jun 17, 2008, 03:33 PM

I'm pretty sure if you waved a magnet around a ipod with a HD it would start to screw it up. But seeing as the Ipod touch is flash memory that wouldn't be an issue. Or am I wrong?

You are correct about the flash drive, you are incorrect about the HD (By HD, I'm assuming you mean traditional magnet based HD). There is a relatively powerful magnet built right on the HD and it doesn't effect the data unless it wants too. There is no way a normal magnet (especially a small one to close a case), will screw up the hard drive. An extremely powerful one will, but it would have to be way more powerful that anything you have lying around the house.

A magnet could (maybe, I've never done the research) screw up the touch screen or something, but definitely not the hard drive.

scialex

Jun 17, 2008, 09:12 PM

A magnet could (maybe, I've never done the research) screw up the touch screen or something
probably not if this were the case apple would have noticed it anyway it might screwup the electric field which enables ouch sensitivity but:
1) the magnet is never right in front of the case
2) and when it is closest to it the cover is down and so the screen is inaccessible. as to the screen if magnets did mess them up people would have noticed a long time ago

andyh2008

Jun 18, 2008, 04:19 AM

plastic and leather cases kill the design of the iphone and touch
you dont need a case!

Take the case off, it feels better in your hand....

Its really hard to scratch the glass.

Yes but that polished metal back will scratch in about 5 minutes. It happened with my previous MP3 player (Rio Carbon). When it's polished to a mirror finish the tiniest mark will ruin it!

okkine

Jun 20, 2008, 12:40 PM

plastic and leather cases kill the design of the iphone and touch
you dont need a case!

Take the case off, it feels better in your hand....

Its really hard to scratch the glass.

Actually, it's not that hard to scratch the glass. I had a minor scratch in mine (fortunately that one got replaced because of the magnet issue), and another friend of mine has a huge scratch in it. That's why I wanted a case with a flip cover to begin with.

jimski

Jun 21, 2008, 06:28 PM

Add one more to the problem list. I bought mine two weeks ago Saturday. I put in the Griffin Convertible on Sunday and headed for the airport. I worked fine at the airport but was locked up when I got to Florida. I couldn't reboot it until the battery drained, which only took overnight (doesn't seem right). Charged it and it worked fine for a while. Repeated this for two days. Then I took the flip cover with the magnets off and it worked fine for the rest of the week. I put the cover back on Sunday to fly home and it was locked up when I arrived. I removed the cover and it's been fine ever since. So it seems mine was only affected after the battery drained a little not on a full charge.

Has anyone who had issues early on seen any long term effects?

okkine

Jun 23, 2008, 02:39 PM

Has anyone who had issues early on seen any long term effects?

2 of Mine did the same freezing up thing for a while, then crapped out completely after staying in the case for about a week. Wouldn't turn on at all. iTunes could detect it, but couldn't sync/restore it so apple replaced it. I don't know if there are long term problems once it is taken out of the case though.

Mal

Jun 23, 2008, 03:00 PM

And anyone find a portfolio case WITHOUT magnets?

I have a Belkin case that's velcro, but it wore out already (about 3 months now). The case itself is great, but the velcro barely holds anymore. I'm simply going to attach a snap in it's place though.

jW

/V\acpower

Oct 6, 2008, 09:24 PM

Btw, i've bought a iPod Touch last week and recently a Case with magnet near the "round" button and really it is causing the unit to crash.

It's almost automatic when i start a song and put the iPod face down and flip closed (the face down probably just push a bit on the magnet so they are closer, since it doesn't crash when face up), the unit crash after 1-2 second.

Also when face down it never crash without the case. Clearly the case is causing the unit to crash.

Bichiliad

Oct 7, 2008, 03:20 PM

okkine

Oct 9, 2008, 09:52 PM

Seriously, anyone find a way around this?

Um, Yea... Don't buy a magnetic case. :D

Night Spring

Oct 9, 2008, 10:48 PM

Have been using a DLO flip case with magnets for nearly a year now. Have not encountered any problems at all.

Bichiliad

Oct 11, 2008, 06:19 PM

I have a Belkin case that's velcro, but it wore out already (about 3 months now). The case itself is great, but the velcro barely holds anymore. I'm simply going to attach a snap in it's place though.

jW

I'll look into it. It'd be really nice to have a case for my iPod eventually :)

tarnfeld

Dec 29, 2008, 03:51 PM

I have the Gear4 iPod Touch Case (iPod Touch First Generation, 2.2 Software Not Jailbroken) and whenever i leave the ipod in the case for any length of time and clip it on and then take it off again the ipod seems to freeze, not any freeze but the screen has lots of different colours flashing and changing, (you know like when you do a screen check on a pc moniter) and its as if the drivers for my ipod screen fail! I can't repeat this but it happens not freqently but every now and then. I've had my ipod for about 6 months and this is a first!

Here is my case......
https://www.krcs.co.uk/images/library/products/300/gear4_ljtch.jpg

It has two magnets on the ipod side (when its open) that are always either side of the home button when the ipod is in the case and there are two that match up with them in the flip lid.

If anybody else has this problem please post here and quote me cos i think it might just be my ipod :(

Thanks

sjleworthy

Dec 30, 2008, 02:41 AM

my leather wallet for mine is most similar tp the above, with 2 magnetic 'dots' in the corners to hold it closed. my ipod's spent more time in it than out of it and has always given me perfect service since i bought it a year ago.

tranzplant

Jan 2, 2009, 11:22 AM

I have the Gear4 iPod Touch Case (iPod Touch First Generation, 2.2 Software Not Jailbroken) and whenever i leave the ipod in the case for any length of time and clip it on and then take it off again the ipod seems to freeze... it happens not freqently but every now and then. I've had my ipod for about 6 months and this is a first!

I've had the same problem with my iPod touch freezing only my screen goes completely white. I have the same configuration(32 gb iPod Touch First Generation, 2.2 Software Not Jailbroken) It has been swapped out three times at the Apple Store, I even sent it to Apple, but they couldn't replicate the problem. After reading these forums I realized that my problems coincided almost to the day with my switching to my Griffin Elan flip case which has magnets. Up to that point my iPod had worked perfectly for five months.

I got the last iPod from the Apple Store this past Wednesday, have not put it into that case and so far have not had one freeze or white screen.

I don't know why some iPods have problems in these cases and some don't, but I do know I have had three iPods behave exactly the same way in exactly the same circumstance. I changed the circumstance (threw away that case) and the problem went away.

whalebone

Jan 26, 2009, 02:00 PM

IT IS IMPORTANT that you actually test your claims and actually have some evidence of this effect. I HAVE DETERMINED that you are just blowing a lot of wind and have no proof of this at all.

Seriously, why the long-winded post that proves nothing yet scares everyone? :confused:

- what test did you perform to determine your result?
- what does the manufacturer say about it?
- how many others have this problem?

I had the exact same problem that is described above. took it back to the apple store and the guy said it was probably the magnets in the case, but he replaced it for free, since we couldn't replicate the problem at will. basically it would force me to reset the thing, and sometimes restore it to factory settings, losing all my stuff each time.

for the guy above who allowed himself to get so "scared" and confused by this thread, take it easy and lose the nerdy attitude. someone's just trying to warn people about a possible equipment problem and you're just being hostile (and a bit of a dork) in response.

AngeleDei

Jan 27, 2009, 06:17 AM

Hiya,

I registered to share my experiences with magnetic cases and the iPhone.

I had the 2g iPhone and had that in a hardcase with no problems at all for over a year (it is still going stong).

My 3g phone however would not fit in that case and so I had to buy a new one. I bought a leather case with a belt clip and magnet seal. The magnet sits about central on the phone. Its quite powerful as it will easily pick up and keep coins attached to it, but it was designed for the iPhone, so I assumed it was okay.

Anyway, some time after getting the phone I noticed the battery was draining pretty quickly and I would find the iPhone dead and requiring a hard reboot. It would then often be found to have almost no battery life left and be warm to the touch. I put this down to a battery cell issue and returned the iPhone as it was getting pretty constant.

Next iphone had a similar problem from almost the start (much sooner). Its the new design (black case and not silver) and may be more suseptible to this sort of thing, who knows. Anyway, it locked up pretty quickly and I removed all applications and carried it around with no applications as a vanilla iPhone. I noticed that it would work fine when plugged into my mac, so I wondered if it was another battery issue. What I hadnt thought was the fact that it wasnt in its case when it was plugged into the mac.

Anyway, I took it into O2 to make sure that I wasnt doing anything dumb (I'm a computer consultant and a qualified telecommunications engineer so I hoped not, but I dont know everything). I had noticed a couple of times that the screen would suddenly flash jumbled characters and then sit there on a blue screen requiring a reboot. This happened only when it was in the case (which it tended to be when I was walking about or it was on my desk at work).

So, the third iPhone turned up yesterday and I patched the software up and restored the phone from a backup and it was all looking good. I poppped it in the case this morning and headed to work. An hour later I popped it out of my bag and saw that the screen was white and the phone was unresponsive. I needed to reboot it again. It was at this point that I thought about the magnet and hit google.

So this is where I am at the moment. I will carry out some trials and let you know the result. I may have just been unlucky and it may have been a co-incidence. I have a case for my Blackberry which I will carry the iPhone around in and if it is good for a week or so then I will put it back into the magnetic case and check again. As I say, this is a fairly strong magnet which can pull a 2 pence coin off a desk from an inch above. However, its "supposed" to be designed for the iphone.

Hope this helps. Thus far it has not crashed again but its only been an hour.

AngeleDei

Jan 27, 2009, 12:42 PM

Quick COP update. The iPhone has not faulted at all today being outside of its case. But then neither has the Blackberry ;)

I'll see what happens.

JAT

Jan 27, 2009, 02:17 PM

I have the DLO case and have never had a problem. With the iPod. I have had these weak little magnets trash various magnetic cards. Hotel room keys and possibly even a credit card once, although the latter I'm not positive about and don't feel like testing any further. I simply don't keep such cards in the case's pocket anymore. Or even next to the case in a shirt pocket.

beeh

Jan 27, 2009, 02:30 PM

This is a great thread, sounds like a lot of people have problems with specific cases. Just as another datapoint, I've been using a DLO leather flip case for over a year now with a 1G Touch without any problems.

It would be great to know if this is specific to only certain Touches or just the case? Has anyone followed up with Apple? I'm afraid to buy a new Touch now.

JAT

Feb 1, 2009, 10:10 AM

I'm afraid to buy a new Touch now.

I don't see how that follows either the discussion in this thread or the rest of your post. The problem is clearly linked to a certain external iPod case, has nothing to do with the Touch. If you have the cash and are ready to buy, this is one of the greatest products ever.

AngeleDei

Feb 3, 2009, 09:58 AM

Okay. Its been a week now and in that time I have not used my magnetic case at all. I've had not had a single problem with my iPhone in all that time. I've had all apps on it (3 pages worth), and used all functionality. Not once has it crashed or bugged out.

As promised, I put it back in its case at 2:25pm (GMT). I checked it 5 minutes later and it was fine. 20 minutes later when I checked it, it had crashed with the same error as I had with the previous phones. So, I think in my case at least, its my case that is and has been causing the problems. I will ring Apple about it later and get their take on it. If they say it shouldnt happen, then they can take it back and they can keep taking it back until I get a phone that works (unlikely) or they admit defeat, if they say its something that they are aware of, then I will let you know.

AngeleDei

Feb 3, 2009, 10:31 AM

Apple Support have agreed that given my symptoms and the checks I have carried out, that the case is at fault. However, I have progressed this with Apple via their feedback form to make them aware that there is an issue with some cases so that they let people know. If they dont agree that there is an issue, then I will be sending an awful lot of phones back until they do so.

Anyway, in the unlikely event they reply and if I figure out anything further, I will let you know.

Bichiliad

Feb 3, 2009, 03:29 PM

Um, Yea... Don't buy a magnetic case. :D

Very funny. :D

Bichiliad

Feb 3, 2009, 03:30 PM

tbrinkma

Feb 3, 2009, 04:43 PM

I don't have a Touch or iPhone, but based on the described symptoms, I'd guess that it comes down to a bad combination of manufacturing tolerances. Likely, something that is effected by magnetic fields (even just a little) is being pulled oddly, causing a bad connection somewhere or something like that. It would explain why some people have the problem and others don't, as well as why it's so hard to reproduce. Could be as simple as the magnets pulling on the switch mechanism in the home button such that it acts like it's been held down for a long time, or some such.

pogi

Feb 27, 2009, 05:39 AM

While googling about iPod problems I found this forum, so I decided to register and share my experience with this issue.

HW: iPod Touch 8Gb, second gen, fw ver 2.2 (5G77a), NOT jailbroken AFAIK it is not possible yet.

I installed few freeware apps from iTunes store (eReader, Sudoku, TicTacToe, Chess)

This is my first Apple product ever :) but when I saw it at my cousin I decided to buy it. Main purpose is to watch movies while travelling to work in company bus. I am kind of technogadget freak, so I also bought CaseLogic case to protect iPod. Everything was working fine until I started to watch my first movie in bus while travelling to work. Suddenly, few minutes after start my iPod freezed for a moment and Apple logo appeared on screen. There was nothing else I could do, so I had to do hard reset. When I came to work I put iPod to run the same movie and, of course nothing happened, I drained battery to less than 10% with all kind of video that I had in iPod but I could not freeze iPod again. So I was thinking, software can freeze somethimes, no big deal. I continue to watch/test at home....nothing, iPod was working perfectly. Until next working day....

So I came into bus, started to watch movie.....I increased volume... pufff.... iPod was freezed again. ???? I was starting to belive that something in the bus was causing it. Then I realized that when I am in the bus iPod was always ON CASELOGIC CASE WHICH HAS MAGNET INSIDE.

So I decided to buy new case without magnet inside. I am 100% sure that magnet interach with metal part inside iPod or small but enough EM induction is causing this kind of problem.

Regards, Pogi

PS. english is not my native language, but I belive you understood the point.

AngeleDei

Mar 3, 2009, 06:45 AM

I've been unable to get anyone at Apple to admit they have a problem with the iPhone and magnetism (I think they would be a bit dumb to do so to be honest), but I've now had 4 with the same problems. All work fine out of the case and all fail in the (iPhone) case. My Blackberry works fine in the case.

So my latest iPhone has a smal scrath on it, so I will send it back for a new one with a note explaining that apparently my phone should work within a magnetic case (as apply deny its a problem) and will ask for a new one. I guess they are happier replacing the odd one than admitting to a major design flaw.

I can imagine that the redesigned case is more susceptible to EMF as its been designed to have greater reception for 3G. For that reason, if RF can get out easier, then magnetic waves can get in easier. Volatile RAM is switched by very low and very fast electric charges to a 1 or 0 as required. It would be very easy for insufficiently shielded RAM or CPU or data bus etc to be affected by magnetic waves that would change the charge on a single transistor and crash it.

I dont know enough about modern battery technology to understand why the batteries are getting drained by magnetic fields, but I do know plenty about computer design to know a magnetic field is not a good thing to have near rapidly switching unshielded semiconductor devices.

iwamc

Mar 3, 2009, 02:03 PM

I've had the LLG Case (http://www.llgco.com/Leather-Case-for-Apple-iPod-Touch./M/B001CDAZX6.htm) (picture below) with a magnet for months and have haven't had any problems.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GwH067ucL._SL250_.jpg

Perhaps as has been mentioned. It has to do with the placement of the magnet, the thickness of the case, and the strength of the magnet. Some magnets may be fairly strong while others might be quite weak (just a guess though).

I did some research a while back about magnets and the impact (or lack thereof) on USB devices and came across a funny explanation(wish I had the original link): It would require a magnet with the strength to pull the Tin Man through a key hole to wipe data or affect a USB key. :)

My 2 cents.

cweaver

Mar 4, 2009, 12:06 AM

I bought this cheap case based on the glowing reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014Z113U

And it is quite nice for such a low price.
However my new 16gig touch shut down hard when I put it in the case.
Took me about 30 min to get it to turn back on after I removed it from the case so I could try all the different forms of chargers I had. I thought the battery had just died or something...

When I got it turned back on I saw the battery was fully charged and decided I must have pushed the power button or something when I put it in the case.

This time I was very careful but when I closed the case or push the magnets tight against the touch, the screen rasters, turns white and the ipod immediately reboots. If I leave it in the case the touch shuts down hard and is difficult to wake..

I immediately pulled it out and was able to get it to turn back on in about 5 min.

JAT

Mar 4, 2009, 02:38 PM

cdcapano

Mar 5, 2009, 12:09 AM

Update: I had posted on this board last year about this problem with my 8 gig Touch. I had gotten a Griffin leather case with magnets in it that would cause my iTouch to fail within a few minutes of being in it.

Anyway; that was a year ago. I haven't had the problem for several months now. I'm not sure why. I think it may have stopped after one of Apple's software updates; I think maybe it was 2.0, but can't remember.

Why a software update would fix it, I don't know, since I figured it was a hardware problem. Maybe the changes in the magnetic field induced an emf that messed up the processor, but apple was able to code in preparation for these glitches. One other thing I have noticed with the software updates is that my battery doesn't get drained when doing a reboot. This was something else that had been a problem when the Touch would bug out: after the reboot, what was a full battery was now almost dead. At first I thought it was because of the magnets, until I did a cold reboot on my own (hold down power and home button) and saw the battery charge get cut in half. This doesn't happen anymore either, so maybe Apple has quietly improved management of the hardware in their updates. I don't know; I'm not an electronics engineer, so I'm just guessing.

Anyway, if anyone reading this is thinking about getting a Touch, but are unsure, just go for it. The problems highlighted on this board seem to have been worked out (at least for me) and the newer models might not have this problem at all (plus they have an external speaker and volume keys! yargh). It might not be perfect, but it's a great little device that I've found to be incredibly useful. And that's coming from someone who thinks Windows is just as good as OSX :)

cweaver

Mar 6, 2009, 08:08 PM

Anyway, if anyone reading this is thinking about getting a Touch, but are unsure, just go for it. The problems highlighted on this board seem to have been worked out (at least for me) and the newer models might not have this problem at all (plus they have an external speaker and volume keys! yargh). It might not be perfect, but it's a great little device that I've found to be incredibly useful. And that's coming from someone who thinks Windows is just as good as OSX :)

I just had this problem on a brand new ipod touch which had the latest point release loaded on it before it ever saw the case which caused the problem.

I have however been able to work around the problem since I like the case.

I cut a strip of flexible refrigerator magnet with a cutout for the home key.
I placed this inside the case between the touch and the magnets with double sided tape to keep it from sliding around.

This soft, flexible, easy to cut material, effectively short circuits the magnetic field and the touch has not had a problem since.

I decided on this path as it seemed that the situation was worse when the case was closed. The flap I have has one flat piece of metal so it created a larger magnet field when it connected the two dot magnets together. By connecting them with the thin magnet on the other side it pulls the field up out of the inside of the touch.

Other magnetic cases may not have the problem for several reasons. Magnets on the flap and metal next to ipod, extra padding between magnets and ipod, weaker magnets, perhaps two pieces of metal instead of one which doesn't allow the field to be connected and magnified, etc.

The solution for this problem is not going to be a software fix, but a design change with better shielding inside the touch or guidelines for case designers to eliminate the destructive field. Since existing ipods won't be changed if you like the case design give this a try and post your results.

SnowLeopard2008

Mar 6, 2009, 11:30 PM

MacBlackBook22

Mar 8, 2009, 03:36 AM

I have a leather case that has 2 magnetic disc's. Its not a flip top case it folds closed like a wallet. And that is what I use it for too. It has space for credit cards and cash and that is the reason I bought the case. So that I don't have to carry a wallet. Never had any problem with the magnets causing problem with the touch. Its a G1 version.

I tend to think its where the magnets are placed in the case that is the problem for some people. Too bad as I think having a leather case is much nicer for the touch than the gel cases I see around.

cweaver

Mar 9, 2009, 09:32 AM

Why bother to spend money to achieve the exact opposite of Ives's design? I hate flip cases because 1) makes iPod thin = iPod thick 2) bulky and big 3) expensive. Buy something else other than a flip case with magnets. There's stuff like more-thing.com cases, belkin plastic sliders, etc.

I actually think the slip on backs to protect the metal are the waste.
I could care less about the metal being scratched. I use a flip case so that the touch can be in a pocket, purse, or other bag with the screen protected from scratches and shock that might crack it yet is is easy to flip open and use since there is nothing but a small magnet holding the cover in place.

1)The fact that the iPod is so thin which allows the case itself to be thin.
2)My Ipod in its case is not big, it isn't bulky (still fits in my front pocket)
3)My case was only $5 shipped which is why I am not really surprised the magnets were not well shielded. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011I9ORU/
It is surprising to find reports on $30 cases!

Pick out the best case (or naked) design for your use.
For me a soft padded flip case best meets my needs. Since I like the easy to use magnet flip case design, I have had to work around the ipod deficiency of crashing due to the magnetic field...

AngeleDei

Mar 10, 2009, 09:12 AM

Are you serious? You have tried 4 iPhones to avoid this problem instead of replacing the case?

Unfortunatley yes I have. I am trying to get a definitive answer from Apple to agree that there is a problem so people know and can avoid certain types of case. As it is, they are unwilling to do this and have - when pressed - denied there is anything wrong with the iPhone and it should work with all cases. I've sent detailed explanations of my symptoms and actions to Apple technicians and have been ignored. So, until they either admit there is a problem or I get a better shielded phone, then I will send them back. Its annoying to have to do so, but then its also annoying that I had to spend a considerable amount of time figuring out the problem because Apple will not admit it exists.

appydata

Mar 11, 2009, 12:10 PM

I've had two Ipod touches (my partners and her brothers) crash/freeze on me when placed into the protective leather cases that have two magnets near the bottem round button. When they have been out of the cases there are no issues. Within minutes of closing the lid, and then opening again I would find that I would need to reset the ipods.

OK, so I've created a few threads here reporting about my iPod Touch locking up where I have to reset it by holding down the two buttons for 10 seconds. I have done some troubleshooting and have determined the problem today.

This is VERY IMPORTANT. It turns out from what I have discovered is that it was my case: http://store.apple-touch.com/content/accessories/4-22--3116.htm

Perhaps cases with magnets in a different area would be ok, I don't know. I HAVE DETERMINED though, magnets at the bottom on one or both sides of the front circle button is NOT GOOD.

I've had two different iPod Touches crashing on me. One was /A and one /B One on 1.1.2 and one with 1.1.3 with apps. I've been running my new one, a /B with 1.1.3 and apps without any case for a while and it hadn't crashed. I decided I could put it back in my case, the one linked to above. I put it on my desk. It was sitting there for 30 minutes or less. I pick it up and flip open the lid. As I open the lid, I see the screen flash white and then the apple logo appears from the clean boot or whatever you want to call it. Mind you, the screen flashed white the INSTANT I open the lid.

What I believe is happening is that the magnets in the case are pulling something within the iPod Touch and shorting or causing some problem. I am 99% sure that this is the problem I have been having for the past two weeks with my two different iPod Touches.

Perhaps if you have a case that doesn't have as strong of magnets as the case I've mentioned, you may not experience this problem.

I am taking my case back and am going to look for something else that hopefully still has some type of flip lid to protect my screen, but not hold it on with magnets.

I send this out as a warning to all would be buyers of the case mentioned above or any case that may have magnets in, no matter how weak or strong they may be. You will save yourself a lot of headaches if you simply avoid purchasing any case with magnets.

I hope this helps people steer clear of the problems I've had to endure over these past two weeks.

If anybody knows of a iPod Touch case that does have a hard protection for the screen like the one I've mentioned and that doesn't use magnets, I am interested in a link or its name.

Thank you.

appydata

Mar 11, 2009, 12:13 PM

That's the same case that I've been having problems with.

It's not your ipod but the magnets in the case that are causing the problem.

I have the Gear4 iPod Touch Case (iPod Touch First Generation, 2.2 Software Not Jailbroken) and whenever i leave the ipod in the case for any length of time and clip it on and then take it off again the ipod seems to freeze, not any freeze but the screen has lots of different colours flashing and changing, (you know like when you do a screen check on a pc moniter) and its as if the drivers for my ipod screen fail! I can't repeat this but it happens not freqently but every now and then. I've had my ipod for about 6 months and this is a first!

Here is my case......
https://www.krcs.co.uk/images/library/products/300/gear4_ljtch.jpg

It has two magnets on the ipod side (when its open) that are always either side of the home button when the ipod is in the case and there are two that match up with them in the flip lid.

If anybody else has this problem please post here and quote me cos i think it might just be my ipod :(

Thanks

mbira

Mar 16, 2009, 09:58 PM

I joined this forum now to also mention that I have the exact same problem. Thanks for this tip from cweaver:

I have however been able to work around the problem since I like the case.

I cut a strip of flexible refrigerator magnet with a cutout for the home key.
I placed this inside the case between the touch and the magnets with double sided tape to keep it from sliding around.

This soft, flexible, easy to cut material, effectively short circuits the magnetic field and the touch has not had a problem since.

This has fixed the problem for me with no cost and it took 3 minutes. I was about to rip the magnets out of my case because I wasn't about to go spend $30 on a new case (I got mine from the above Amazon link).

Kerin15

Apr 4, 2009, 10:18 AM

In my experience it is absolutely true that my new leather flip case made my Itouch unusable. The only evidence I need is that when I had the Itouch in the case, the device would freeze each time I closed the case, the screen would go white, or striped, and the full battery drained over a 3 hour period. I had to reset the device over and over. I had not had any problems or resets before or after the use of this case. I say BEWARE of Magenets!!!

philo23

Apr 4, 2009, 11:59 AM

I highly doubt its the magnets. Theres nothing for them to really affect...
Also maybe try updating to 2.0, 1.1.x isnt exactly know to be stable

MacRy

Apr 4, 2009, 12:07 PM

I highly doubt its the magnets. Theres nothing for them to really affect...
Also maybe try updating to 2.0, 1.1.x isnt exactly know to be stable

It's definitely the magnets. I had an iPod Touch which worked absolutely perfectly until I put it in a Griffin Elan Convertible case and then it started freezing and killing the battery. I stopped using the case and it worked perfectly again for a few months until I gave it to my wife after purchasing an iPhone. She started using the same Griffin Elan case and it happened to her too. Stopped using the case and it was fine until I sold it. So definitely the case and has to be the magnets.

philo23

Apr 4, 2009, 12:14 PM

It's definitely the magnets. I had an iPod Touch which worked absolutely perfectly until I put it in a Griffin Elan Convertible case and then it started freezing and killing the battery. I stopped using the case and it worked perfectly again for a few months until I gave it to my wife after purchasing an iPhone. She started using the same Griffin Elan case and it happened to her too. Stopped using the case and it was fine until I sold it. So definitely the case and has to be the magnets.

that's quite obscure, there shouldn't be anything in the iPod touch or the iPhone that would be affected by magnets... Weird

MacRy

Apr 4, 2009, 12:44 PM

that's quite obscure, there shouldn't be anything in the iPod touch or the iPhone that would be affected by magnets... Weird

Strange but true :) I did contact Griffin about it and they confirmed that they had received complaints from other people that this particular case affected a number of other customers and that they would switch it out for another case of my choice. Strange it doesn't affect all of them though.

manda2016

May 17, 2009, 09:33 AM

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM... it really is the cases with magnets. i tried it out twice i thought it was just the i pod at first.
but it worked the night before then i got my case and iput it in and it instantly turned off and woudn't turn back on. so i restarted it again, and put it in again to see. and it did the same thing. and thanks to ur forum i figured it out for sure! thank you. no more cases like that for me!

Hi Fearless, can you try using the magnet and not waving it, but putting it up against it and then pulling it away. Can you please test this on the front of it at the bottom where the front circle button is?

I'm really quite interested in peoples results with this. Mine is a 2008 week 1. I'd especially be interested in anybody testing with magnets on the same 2008 week 1 touch.

Like some said, I did a long winded post. I don't really know how people wish me to prove it. I'm afraid I don't have the time to prove it... and to be honest, I'm not going to go waving the magnets in front of my Touch again to prove (or disprove) it. Maybe I made the title a little too dramatic, but I said to myself, I wish somebody had only warned me the same way before I purchased my iPod Touch case, so that I could at least make a decision that would avoid the POSSIBLE problem.

If anybody else can confirm magnets cause a problem as they are put at the bottom of the screen and pulled away from the iPhone / Touch, it would help confirm the problem.

As for me, I have already picked the two cases that I've settled on to replace the magnet one I mentioned. The one I had that caused this problem was bought when I bought my Touch, just because they had it and not really for any preference other than that it had the hard cover to the screen.

My new protection will include my Touch encased with the iFrogz http://ifrogz.com/products.php?cat=352&wrap_overlay=4054|touchtreadz case and then the Golla Camo http://store.apple-touch.com/content/accessories/4-25--2994.htm

Magnet free setup and pretty spiffy protection.

I hope somebody else is able to confirm these magnet problems. :(

1943922

Jun 8, 2009, 04:47 PM

well its some what true the only thing it does is makes the NAND chip in it restore on boot.. this is my ipod booting in verbose mode after i put a very weak magnet over the home button sorry for the poor quality but it says "performing full NAND R/O restore"

www.youtube.com/v/jpuZBAIRDGk&hl=en&fs=1&

humbug67

Aug 31, 2009, 03:16 AM

i have had numerous issues with my new ipod touch 2nd gen ( 32gb), i have a magnetic case and the ipod doesnt work when inside the case, even apple told me it was the case.
DONT USE THEM

Denis Howe

Oct 13, 2009, 06:41 AM

Whenever I put my iPod Touch (2nd generation) in a Cygnett GroovePocket iPod Touch Leather case (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00111OGCA/), it hangs up, requiring a reset. The hang-up seems to be associated with opening and closing the case. Could the moving magnets induce enough current in some part of the circuit to upset the Touch?

Rampant.A.I.

Oct 13, 2009, 07:47 AM

Ladies and Gentlemen, I've just discovered that there are magnets IN my Macbook Pro. :eek:

But I've heard you're not supposed to have magnets around computers, EVER.

Should I remove the magnet from the top case of my MBP to avoid future possible damage to it? I'm contacting Apple about this immediately, I wonder if they know there are MAGNETS installed INSIDE their machines! :eek:

;)

lmgequalizer

Dec 25, 2009, 11:07 PM

Hey,

I am new here and was just surfing the web for some anwsers about this same issue. Just got a 8G touch for christmas and a leather case by itech electronics which states on the case "for th eipod touch" however the case kills the ipod. You put it in and within seconds the itouch shuts down and you can not restart it unless you hit the home key and power button for about 20secs. WTF is up with that?:confused: all this neat technology and they still have not figured out how to make these gadgets work with out interferience to low power magnets... :/

Black Belt

Dec 26, 2009, 01:20 AM

There's also magnets in your hard drives! Duh!

ekim1951

May 29, 2010, 07:07 PM

I had the same type of case for over a year. Just recently my ipod touch has started to act up. Every time I closed the flap on the case my music would stop
and the ipod would have to be rebooted. I turned it on out of the case and had no problem. A lot of people are saying they have no problems with this type of case. Maybe so. They'll say that the magnets are too weak. I say that when two magnets come together, they get twice as strong and over time might cause a problem. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

J&JPolangin

May 29, 2010, 11:16 PM

I've had no problem with my buffalo leather flip case with magnets and I've had it since Nov 2007 on my 1st gen 16Gb iPod Touch...

solara

Apr 29, 2011, 01:49 AM

I have a MacCase brand case with two magnets down around the home button at the bottom that keep the case closed. Around February my iPod touch 2g, which I had had since last March, suddenly began to misbehave. It reboots itself multiple times a day, and has also set itself into recovery mode more than once. I sent it into Apple, who said there was nothing wrong with it and returned it. It is now out of warranty. I have noticed it does not appear to misbehave as much when not in the case, although it will still turn itself off or reboot itself. Is it possible that it could be the magnets in this case?

bestace

May 26, 2011, 12:36 AM

generally electronic goods are shielded against stray magnetic fields. Maybe you got a defective unit. I am sure there would have been more people complaining about the problem..

J&JPolangin

May 27, 2011, 12:21 AM

I've had no problem with my buffalo leather flip case with magnets and I've had it since Nov 2007 on my 1st gen 16Gb iPod Touch...

My 1st gen is also still going strong in the same case another year later:p

MrsWhiskey

Sep 25, 2011, 05:55 PM

generally electronic goods are shielded against stray magnetic fields. Maybe you got a defective unit. I am sure there would have been more people complaining about the problem..

But there are numerous reports of the exact same problems all over the web and all over this forum.

I had a faux leather flip case with magnets for my itouch for years - no problem at all. I liked the case so much that when it wore out I replaced it with one exactly like it, or so I thought. The fit was just a bit more snug, and the magnets seemed just a tiny bit stronger. The itouch immediately began crashing every time I closed the case. I would have to reboot by holding down the home and top buttons. I put the itouch back in the worn and tattered case -- no problem. Two months later I tried the new case again. Same problem. I tried stretching the leather so it would be as loose as the worn out case. That helped a tiny bit, but the itouch still crashes about once a day. The difference in magnet strength between the two cases isn't much, but it is noticeable. And after stretching of the new case, the difference in magnet strength is the only difference between the two I can find.