Reports have started to filter in about the compatibility of smart covers and the new iPad. The smart cover — a cover with built in magnets that wakes the iPad when it’s removed and puts it to sleep when the cover is put in place — was one of the big reveals with the iPad 2 and the functionality was supposed to be unchanged with the third generation iPad. Old smart covers were supposed to work with the new device, but that doesn’t appear to be the the entire story.
It was noted this week by a number of outlets that the smart cover performance with new iPads has been inconsistent. Apparently even some new Apple-branded smart covers are not working, while older ones are hit-and-miss. Third party covers are equally imperfect, so you might get lucky or you might not.
One blogger did some deep digging and tracked the issue back to polarity sensing in the new iPad. Apparently it’s not just the presence of magnets at the corners of the iPad, but the polarity of those magnets. Some iPads were falling asleep when the smart cover was flipped around to the back of the iPad, so by looking for not just for magnets, but for correctly positioned magnets, this was prevented. (I have to say I never had that happen with my iPad/smart cover.)
Anecdotally, I can say that my iPad 3 does not work with my fancy DodoCase, much to my dismay. At first I thought it was a proximity issue, due to the increased thickness of the new iPad, but that wasn’t the case. So for the time being it looks like I’m stuck with a $60 iPad case that looks great, but doesn’t quite work. I have reached out to DodoCase to see if this is a widespread issue. Cnet has the DodoCase in their Best iPad 3 case roundup, so maybe mine is an isolated issue.
All this leads me to one question: F**king magnets, how do they work?
More at Apple Support forums and Mark’s Hangout
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