Noted teardown firm iFixit reported today that it has performed a teardown of the Apple's highly-publicized Smart Cover for the iPad 2, revealing a plethora of magnets inside the device to keep it aligned on the surface of the iPad and to turn the iPad on and off.
There are a total of THIRTY ONE magnets within the iPad 2 and Smart Cover: 10 magnets in the iPad 2, and a whopping 21 magnets inside the Smart Cover. They're the reason why the cover works so well with the iPad 2.
Long, thin magnets are embedded in the sides of the iPad in order to hold the Smart Cover firmly in place on the left side and keep the cover closed on the right side.
iPad 2 sleep sensor (red) and magnets for keeping cover closed (yellow)
A single round magnet in the rightmost panel of the Smart Cover interacts with a sleep sensor embedded in the right edge of the iPad to turn the iPad on and off as the cover is opened and closed.
Steel plate (red) and 15 magnets (yellow) interact to stabilize stand
The Smart Cover is broken into four panels to allow it to fold into a triangular shape to serve as a stand. A total of 15 magnets in the rightmost panel of the cover are used to bond to a steel plate in the leftmost panel to stabilize the stand.
Apple offers polyurethane Smart Covers in five colors priced at $39 each, with leather covers also available in an additional five colors for $69 each.
Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by Joe Rossignol
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more.
Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically.
The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged.
The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions.
Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...
