You know you’ve got yourself a fancy cover on your hands when it’s deemed worth of its own teardown! MacRumors reports on iFixit’s teardown of the iPad 2’s Smart Cover, which is, unsurprisingly the first time for the site to ever perform a teardown on a cover. According to MacRumors, the step-by-step teardown revealed a total of 21 magnets inside the case, with the iPad 2 itself housing a further 10. The teardown also found a round magnet situated in the right hand panel of the Smart Cover, which interacts with the sleep sensor housed in the corresponding edge of the iPad 2. This enables the Smart Cover to ingeniously place the iPad 2 in sleep mode and wake it again when the cover is put on and taken off.
The teardown also found that the Smart Cover is divided into four panels, which enable it to be folded into a stand. 15 magnets in the right-hand panel help to keep the stand steady by affixing it to a steel panel in the left-hand panel.
Source: iPad 2 Smart Cover Teardown Reveals 21 Magnets - Mac Rumors