This is a very tiny rumor, but in the silence before the storm, we have a few minutes to consider it: apparently, one still unpublicized hardware change in the iPad 2 is a new magnetic latch.
Way back in January, a reference to PAD_CASE_LOCK was found in the beta version of iOS 4.3, apparently a function that allows the iPad to automatically lock and unlock when you close the iPad cover. That seems pretty useful, except for the fact that the iPad seemingly doesn’t have any hardware that could make that feature work.
Now iLounge is reporting that the new iPad will be able of magnetically gripping the front flaps of folio-style cases. Not only will that make iPad cases more elegant, but iOS would know that when a lid was secured in the right position, the iPad would lock itself up tight.
Staggering genius? Not really, but it is one of those nice little touches that Apple is just so good at.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
12 responses to “iPad 2 To Feature Magnetic Case Lock?”
i like your blog……. quirky and original……. keep it up!
:–)
francois from south africa
This is something blackberry has been doing for numerous years.
WHY on earth are these people designing cases that have the device on the right?? If, by chance, you wanted to have a notepad on the side to write notes on or whatever (and dont give me any of this “write the note in the ipad itself” because there are plenty of times that you have to sign an invoice or write a check or whatever and MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT LEFT HANDED.
Design flaw to the Nth degree. This goes for Kindle cases too.
Gizmodo’s new version of IPad ,IPad 2 is an advanced version
from apple. on :http://fms.nu/hTtuo0.
It really helps thing to get easier…
Highly doubt that that is what the reference was to.
it seems more likely that it is code that will auto lock and dim the screen when it detects that a case has been closed over it or it is face down. to save energy.
NOT something actually do to with physical cases
1. because despite your ‘don’t give me any’ that is exactly what they are thinking
2. There’s no ‘this side up’ with an ipad. That is one of the beautiful things about the design. If you want the flap on the top, the bottom, the left or the right, just flip it. As long as you don’t have the screen locked, it will adjust just fine