Cause of iPad 3 sleep/wake problem with 3rd party cases

Mark Booth · Mar 17, 2012

There have been lots of issues with the iPad 3's Smart Cover feature not working with some third-party cases. Maybe the placement or alignment of the little magnet in the cover is the problem with some of those cases, but that's certainly not what I discovered when I investigated with our Maroo Moko II case.

It's the POLARITY of the magnet!

The story and HD video demonstration can be found at my blog:

iPad 3 Smart Cover Sleep/Wake Feature Not Working

Mark

glen e · Mar 17, 2012

Maroo found that out too..now the questions is why would apple change it and how come the smartcovers work and not other cases?

vabigpoppa · Mar 17, 2012

awesome explanation thanks for posting

reebs · Mar 17, 2012

Very interesting indeed. Maroo said they have a fix for us and to stay tuned. What else can we do besides cut into the case or add another magnet to it?

OTACORB · Mar 17, 2012

Thanks Mark, I appreciate that explanation. I have a Zoogue case that the polarity of the magnet is wrong and it no longer functions. Now I understand why it doesn't work. Zoogue is going to have to fix this on future cases.

glen e · Mar 17, 2012

Mount this right side up in cover?

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D201

all of 90 cents!

Dechter · Mar 17, 2012

Mark Booth said:
There have been lots of issues with the iPad 3's Smart Cover feature not working with some third-party cases. Maybe the placement or alignment of the little magnet in the cover is the problem with some of those cases, but that's certainly not what I discovered when I investigated with our Maroo Moko II case.

It's the POLARITY of the magnet!

The story and HD video demonstration can be found at my blog:

iPad 3 Smart Cover Sleep/Wake Feature Not Working

Mark

Good explanation, Mark. I just verified the same thing with my Sena Florence folio case. It does not trigger the sleep/wake function when the new iPad is inside the case, but if I flip the case over so the polarity of the magnet inside the cover is reversed, the sleep/wake does indeed work.

Now to determine a good easy way to modify my case...

Rgladman · Mar 17, 2012

Mark Booth said:
There have been lots of issues with the iPad 3's Smart Cover feature not working with some third-party cases. Maybe the placement or alignment of the little magnet in the cover is the problem with some of those cases, but that's certainly not what I discovered when I investigated with our Maroo Moko II case.

It's the POLARITY of the magnet!

The story and HD video demonstration can be found at my blog:

iPad 3 Smart Cover Sleep/Wake Feature Not Working

Mark

I find it interesting that based on the fact that you received 2 new cases from Maroo and one worked and one didn't. That tells me that the case manufactures didn't have to worry about the polarity when they placed the magnet in the case.

I have a Maroo Kumarra case that I purchased in May of 2011 for my iPad 2 that worked great but doesn't work on my new iPad. I can slide the edge of the cover towards the spline and it will work but it won't stay in that position.

I would like to know how Apple made the iPad 2 so polarity didn't matter but now it does.

aceweil · Mar 17, 2012

glen e said:
Mount this right side up in cover?

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D201

all of 90 cents!

Plus the 5 dollars they charge in shipping. I think its kind of ridiculous to pay six dollars for a function that should be part of the design. I realize apple didn't give these case designers the heads up, but 90 cents to get that function is cool with me....6 dollars makes me think it falls back on the case designers...but its an option thats for sure.

Mark Booth · Mar 17, 2012

Rgladman said:
I would like to know how Apple made the iPad 2 so polarity didn't matter but now it does.

Obviously, Apple switched to using a different type of magnetically activated sensor for the iPad 3. Speculation: The iPad 2 sensor was possibly of a type that the switching mechanism was simply some form of metal. Either polarity of the magnet would attract the metal and throw the switch. Then, for the iPad 3 Apple used a sensor that has a magnet of its own instead of just metal. That magnet would have polarity and, thus, would require a complimentary polarity from the case cover magnet in order to work properly.

Mark

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

aceweil said:
Plus the 5 dollars they charge in shipping. I think its kind of ridiculous to pay six dollars for a function that should be part of the design.

Spending $6.00 to get an existing iPad2 case to work is a bargain.

glen e · Mar 18, 2012

TC25 said:
Spending $6.00 to get an existing iPad2 case to work is a bargain.

X2... Nobody said you have to buy them from that place....you can use up 10 bucks in gas and get them locally, I'll bet...only on macrumors will people complain about 6 bucks....LOL

Stealthipad · Mar 18, 2012

If it is a polarity issue, why do the original iPad covers work. If they reversed the polarity, these old original iPad cover would ALSO not work.

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

Stealthipad said:
If it is a polarity issue, why do the original iPad covers work. If they reversed the polarity, these old original iPad cover would ALSO not work.

Clearly you didn't understand the first post in this thread.

Stealthipad · Mar 18, 2012

glen e said:
Maroo found that out too..now the questions is why would apple change it and how come the smartcovers work and not other cases?

TC25 said:
Clearly you didn't understand the first post in this thread.

Excuse me, after going back and retreading, I see that others do not understand either. Pardon my ignorance. How is my spelling?

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

This isn't rocket science.

iPad2 - A simple piece of metal inside the iPad2 interacted with the magnet in the case, i.e., polarity doesn't matter.

New iPad - Apple replaced the simple piece of metal with a magnet, i.e., polarity matters.

If the case you have happened to have the magnet oriented to work correctly with the magnet inside the new iPad, you got lucky. This also explains why even within the same manufacturer and same model case, some work and some do not.

maniac886 · Mar 18, 2012

I have just purchased a Targus premium click in case and I am very lucky that the sleep/awake function works. However I have 2 other cases that I purchased for the new iPad which do not work due to the reasons mentioned in this thread. It will be very interesting to see how the case manufactures resolve the issue.

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

maniac886 said:
I have just purchased a Targus premium click in case and I am very lucky that the sleep/awake function works. However I have 2 other cases that I purchased for the new iPad which do not work due to the reasons mentioned in this thread. It will be very interesting to see how the case manufactures resolve the issue.

"Resolve the issue"? What's to resolve? It's the luck of the draw as to whether an iPad2 case will work. They have to change their manufacturing process to place the magnets into their cases with the correct polarity.

maniac886 · Mar 18, 2012

TC25 said:
"Resolve the issue"? What's to resolve? It's the luck of the draw as to whether an iPad2 case will work. They have to change their manufacturing process to place the magnets into their cases with the correct polarity.

I was referring to the issue of people who have purchased cases designed solely for the new iPad which don't work.

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

maniac886 said:
I was referring to the issue of people who have purchased cases designed solely for the new iPad which don't work.

If the manufacturer claimed it was compatible with the new iPad, then they don't have a choice, they have to issue a refund or provide a product that works as advertised.

Mark Booth · Mar 18, 2012

Stealthipad said:
If it is a polarity issue, why do the original iPad covers work. If they reversed the polarity, these old original iPad cover would ALSO not work.

The iPad 3 uses a DIFFERENT magnetic sensor switch compared to the iPad 2. The magnetic sensor switch in the iPad 2 is NOT sensitive to polarity. The magnetic sensor switch in the iPad 3 IS sensitive to polarity!

It's that simple and a case manufacturer in the UK has already confirmed this to be true. After I sent him the link to my blog post, he disassembled one of his covers that worked with the iPad 2 but did NOT work with the iPad 3. He reversed the magnet in the cover and tested again. Success! The cover then worked with BOTH the iPad 2 and iPad 3.

Apple simply uses a different type of sensor switch in the iPad 3.

Mark

Stealthipad · Mar 18, 2012

TC25 said:
If the manufacturer claimed it was compatible with the new iPad, then they don't have a choice, they have to issue a refund or provide a product that works as advertised.

Amazon has already refunded me my $50 on my Targus Slim case and I have not even returned it!

Amazon is the best.

DredPirateStorm · Mar 18, 2012

Stealthipad said:
Amazon has already refunded me my $50 on my Targus Slim case and I have not even returned it!

Amazon is the best.

Hopefully OtterBox is just as great with their customer services. I have a feeling I'll be stuck paying return shipping to be a Beta Tester for them...

Rgladman · Mar 18, 2012

Why Apple Smart Covers Still Work

I have seem many posts asking why the Apple Smart Covers still work on the new iPad.

I remembered seeing a tear down of the smart cover last year and I believe it is related to the number of magnets in the smart cover as compared to third party cases.

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/14/ipad-2-smart-cover-teardown-reveals-21-magnets/

TC25 · Mar 18, 2012

Rgladman said:
I have seem many posts asking why the Apple Smart Covers still work on the new iPad.

I remembered seeing a tear down of the smart cover last year and I believe it is related to the number of magnets in the smart cover as compared to third party cases.

Wrong. It's polarity, not the number, of the magnets.

Cause of iPad 3 sleep/wake problem with 3rd party cases

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