iMac Magnet Warning (front row version)

I don't have an iMac, but still... that's kind of scary to even think about. Does Apple have an official warning on their site? If not, I think they should.

Thanks for the heads-up!

There's also a small magnet on the top edge of Rev A and B iMacs. It's there so you can magnetically secure an iSight to the iMac.

Wow, I was EXPECTING there to be an issue when they said there's a magnet to secure the remote. I didn't know about that iSight one though.

When I saw the pictures of the new iMac I did wonder how the remote control was attached to the side of it... I didn't think it would be magnetic for this very reason.

Hmmm... keep your iPod away from your iMac... interesting concept ...perhaps easier said than done!

How does this compare to the magnets found in speakers. I have a pair of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II on my desk, should I be worried about data loss and keep them distanced from my hard drives (internal, external, and iPod?)

I thought about that when I first read how the remote was secured. Probably not a concern, but any chance of problems with internal components (HD, RAM, etc.)?

stoid said:

How does this compare to the magnets found in speakers. I have a pair of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II on my desk, should I be worried about data loss and keep them distanced from my hard drives (internal, external, and iPod?)

Click to expand...

Computer speakers are shielded so there's no worry. The magnet in the iMac might be shielded too. Either that, or not even powerful enough to wipe a hard drive

I really doubt this magnet would have any negative impact. How about the magnets in PowerBooks and iBooks to get the closing latch to pop out. How much data have they corrupted? Just someone rambling on about theoretical problems and not actually thinking about life in the real world

yg17 said:

Computer speakers are shielded so there's no worry. The magnet in the iMac might be shielded too. Either that, or not even powerful enough to wipe a hard drive

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be shielded, as that would defeat the purpose of having one.

As far as the earlier rev iMacs... is there a magnet on top, or simply metal under the plastic for a magnetic iSight mount to latch onto?

eva01 said:

its probably a very tiny magnet and the chances of data loss are remotely negligible, but just in case. Better to be safe than sorry

Click to expand...

Well it BETTER be tiny. W3rd on the street is that there's also a harddrive inside the iMac itself!

jsw said:

It wouldn't be shielded, as that would defeat the purpose of having one.

As far as the earlier rev iMacs... is there a magnet on top, or simply metal under the plastic for a magnetic iSight mount to latch onto?

Click to expand...

There's a magnet inside of the casing on mine, as well as in the iSight mount (Rev. A 20")

That magenet is so small/weak, I gaurantee you it will not have any effect on data in iPods or other devices at all.

You could leave your iPod taped to that area for a week, and it would be fine.

The article is just slinging paint, that's all.

that magnet is nothing compared to the magnets in turnables. i use my mac for digital djing and have seen no probs when near a turntable.

i'm not sure i'd worry about the imac magnet

jsw said:

It wouldn't be shielded, as that would defeat the purpose of having one.

Click to expand...

Shielded on the inside, not the outside (inside to protect the internal HD, etc). C'mon demiG, you know this stuff.

mcarnes said:

Shielded on the inside, not the outside (inside to protect the internal HD, etc). C'mon demiG, you know this stuff.

Click to expand...

But I was replying in the context of the possible threat to an external iPod....

This is a level of paranoia that really isn't necessary

Try this, take a magnet, and a credit card, like your backup one in case your paranoid. Rub the magnet all over the "mag-strip". Now take that card and try and buy something with it where they run it through a mag strip reader.

It still works. How can this be? Because stray magnetic signals are in general not enough to accidently erase magnetic media. Even strong and close. In general your ipod will not be close enough, and even if it was, it wouldn't rewrite your hard drive.

taken directly off of apple's user manual...

While it's a good idea to be cautious I think there's a little too much worry about magnets and hard drives...iBooks and Powerbooks both have rather strong magnets built right into them as part of the latch. I've had pens slide over to the magnet and up the front of my computer to stick to the magnet. It's placed all of 4 inches from the hard drive in my iBook, and probably closer in 12" versions. While you might want to be careful, about leaving your iPod pressed up against it, it's not the end of the world.

Magnetic fields fall off at the cube of distance, so the range on this magnet, like most, is going to be VERY short. Although it's theoretically possible for this to mess up the data on a hard drive (which is why Apple is covering it's butt with that warning), it would have to be VERY close to actually have any effect--practically in physical contact, I'd wager. So long as your iPod dock isn't right next to that corner of the computer (even a couple inches is almost certainly more than enough), it is unlikely to ever have an effect.

(And actually, if it's in the dock, the metal case of the iPod's drive is probably grounded, in which case I don't think the magnet couldn't have any effect at all as it's basically a Faraday Cage at that point.)

Bottom line: I wouldn't lean my external hard drive against that corner of the iMac, but so long as you give stuff a couple inches clearance it'll never be an issue.

Considering hard drives have magnets in them for the motors, I don't think this magnet is going to present any issue.

belvdr said:

Considering hard drives have magnets in them for the motors, I don't think this magnet is going to present any issue.

Click to expand...

No kidding, has anyone actually lost data due to magnets since the old floppy disk erra? I think that the metal casing around hard drives and what have you is suffecient to protect the data. Hard drive platteres are not the same kind of material as the magnetic tape in audio cassettes.