Which made us wonderwhat kinds of neat tricks might the iPad do if it had these powerful magnets inside?
“A magnetic folio case or keyboard could firmly attach for improved versatility as a mobile workstation.
Fortunately, the teapot was cold and almost empty.
Apple MagSafe charger surrounded by a MacBook, iPhone, and iPad with Apple Pencil.Brandon Romanchuk / Unsplash
This shows that magnets, although very useful, are not to be trifled with.
They can grab teapots, and scramble hotel keycards.
Apple
Apple’s patent filingputs little lever mechanisms inside the edge of the iPad.
Apple patent diagram.Apple
These are actuated by approaching magnets, like those inan Apple Pencil, say.
Apple already uses plenty of magnets in the iPad.
But if they were more powerful, they could do a lot more.
So many ways to use an iPad.Alvaro Reyes / Unsplash
But what else could they do?
Mag-Safe
How about a MagSafecharger like on the iPhone?
You could snap it into place and forget about it while it charges the iPad.
Power could also be sent in another direction, just like charging the Apple Pencil.
Another interesting idea comesfrom iMore’s James Bentley.
And the iPad can already be used with a Bluetooth controller, which seems like a much comfier option.
Bonus points if Apple also adds its smart connector to the edge array for wireless data transfer.
We’re not expecting any magnetic surprises withthis month’s expected iPad launch, but who knows?
If we expected them, they wouldn’t be surprises.
