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michaelsaxon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 15, 2006
365
79
It seems my old flip case (Bear Design) from my iPad 2 no longer activates the screen on/off. I guess I will be buying a new case after all...
 
So Apple changed the magnets just enough to break 3rd party covers but not enough so as to keep their own SmartCovers working.

Interesting. I am guessing the AppleSmart covers has some inside knowledge and were designed accordingly. Classic.
 
So Apple changed the magnets just enough to break 3rd party covers but not enough so as to keep their own SmartCovers working.

Interesting. I am guessing the AppleSmart covers has some inside knowledge and were designed accordingly. Classic.

+1

New iPad fits my rather expensive Vaja case but sleep/wake is a no go. It's possible they had to move things around due to new engineering but it's curious the Smart covers still work.
 
I think the rest of you need to hold it right. :p Sorry, couldn't resist that because my smart cover works EXACTLY like it did on my iPad 2.
 
There are no settings for the smart cover in settings. You just put it on and it works.

There is a setting - but it doesn't show up until after you've put the first smart cover on.

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So Apple changed the magnets just enough to break 3rd party covers but not enough so as to keep their own SmartCovers working. [...] Interesting. I am guessing the AppleSmart covers has some inside knowledge and were designed accordingly. Classic.

Way I think it went: Apple smart covers have magnets in multiple spots on right edge, probably to help do the fold up stand thing. There's more than is needed for the cover sensor in the ipad. Running a piece of metal along mine, feels like five or six distinct magnets.

3rd parties, to save money, just put a magnet where the sensor is on the ipad2, but DON'T put magnets in every spot the smart covers have a magnet on the right edge.

For whatever reason, maybe engineering, Apple moves the sensor in the new iPad. From a compatibility view, so long as it stays within the areas the smart cover has magnets, everything works... except the 3rd party covers that just used one magnet. Do we think Apple engineering would constrain their designs for this?
 
There is a setting - but it doesn't show up until after you've put the first smart cover on.

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Way I think it went: Apple smart covers have magnets in multiple spots on right edge, probably to help do the fold up stand thing. There's more than is needed for the cover sensor in the ipad. Running a piece of metal along mine, feels like five or six distinct magnets.

3rd parties, to save money, just put a magnet where the sensor is on the ipad2, but DON'T put magnets in every spot the smart covers have a magnet on the right edge.

For whatever reason, maybe engineering, Apple moves the sensor in the new iPad. From a compatibility view, so long as it stays within the areas the smart cover has magnets, everything works... except the 3rd party covers that just used one magnet. Do we think Apple engineering would constrain their designs for this?

Thanks for letting me know about the setting
 
My original SmartCover seems to work the same way as my iPad 2. It snapped right on with no issues, and when I "peek" it turns the iPad on.

I wonder where/how they changed the magnets?
 
I wonder where/how they changed the magnets?

Apple didn't change the magnets.

They apparently moved the sensor inside the iPad to sit under a different one of the smart cover magnets.

The magnets built inside the smart cover seem to span nearly three inches along the right edge of the smart cover judging by moving a paperclip along it to see where they pull at it. If a 3rd party cover just put a single magnet in their cover over where the ipad2 sensor was, it won't work so well on an ipad3 with a sensor sitting in a different spot inside the ipad3 and no magnet over it when the cover's closed.
 
It seems my old flip case (Bear Design) from my iPad 2 no longer activates the screen on/off. I guess I will be buying a new case after all...

It seems my old flip case (Bear Design) from my iPad 2 no longer activates the screen on/off. I guess I will be buying a new case after all...

I bought a Bear Motion leather folio type case for the iPad 2 and the magnets work for me.
 
I just tested my old cover that I made last year. I bought a case that did not have a magnet in it. I cut out an area and glued an earth magnet in. The cover won't snap into the iPad 3 but it turns the iPad 3 on and off with no issues.
 
I bought an apple smart cover off Amazon and it doesn't work with my new iPad. It says designed by apple in California made in China and it doesnt work at all. Dont know if its fake or not. I only had the iPad 1before so I might be using it wrong not a big deal for me though.
 
I have two iPad 2 cases and the sleep/wake does not work with either,
The one is a yoobao and the other is a eBay cheapy,
And they both use to work with my iPad 2, so apple's must have changed something
 
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