iFixit has completed its teardown of the iPad 2 and the iPad 2 Smart Cover, finding a large number of magnets in both models. The Smart Cover contains 21 magnets itself, only one of which is used to turn off the iPad 2’s screen.
Another 15 of the Smart Cover’s magnets are used to attach to a hidden steel plate inside the case when assembling the triangular base; only four of those magnets actually clamp to the iPad 2 when the cover is in place. Interestingly, the row of magnets inside the iPad that work with the Smart Cover to snap the accessory onto the device had alternating polarities displayed, which matched up with the opposite alternating polarity of the magnets in the Smart Cover to ensure proper orientation.
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