Open the computer bag, put the phone on the MagSafe charging board, flip open the lid of the Bluetooth headset; close the laptop, pick up the smart watch that is being charged, and attach the ID card to the back of the phone... Unconsciously, magnets have spread throughout our digital lives.
But looking back, even today, we can still hear a lot of "magnets will demagnetize id cards", can we really use the ubiquitous magnets with confidence?
Behind the convenience, there is a small magnet
When it comes to magnet applications, the most common may be the magnetic protective case of tablets, mobile phones or e-book readers. This kind of protective case can not only protect the device by magnetic suction, but also realize the function of sleeping with the lid closed and opening the lid to wake up the screen.
In 2011, at the launch of the iPad 2, Jobs brought a new iPad smart magnetic protective case, which made many people feel the charm of magnetic absorption for the first time.
This design has been passed down for ten years, and we can see a similar protective case design on the newly released iPad mini 6.
Another common application is magnetic charging, if you are a surface series user, you will definitely be impressed by the Surface Connect interface. The MacBook also officially returned this year after canceling the MagSafe charging interface in 2016.
Magnetic interface of surface.
Third-party accessory manufacturers have also launched many interesting gadgets, so that your mobile phone and tablet can also "have" magnetic charging function.
Image courtesy of INDIEGOGO
In addition to the protective case, charging these "on the surface" of the magnet application, in a less conspicuous place, we can also see the shadow of the magnet: the cover of the dormant laptop, the closed cover of the Bluetooth headphone box, the magnetic fixed screen light, and the use of magnets to some outrageous products also from Apple, that is, iPad Pro.
In 2018, the magnetic keyboard and the magnetic Apple Pencil made the 2018 iPad Pro the "most absorbent" Apple product of the year, and the "most expensive refrigerator sticker in history" has also become a creative way to play that only it can complete.
Image credit: Jonathan Ho
The iPad Pro with 102 magnets also provides new accessory directions for third-party manufacturers, such as the iPad Pro's exclusive magnetic stand, so that your iPad Pro can also instantly incarnate into an iMac.
In 2020, Apple added a circle of magnets to the back of the iPhone 12 series of phones, bringing MagSafe back to the public eye. For a time, products such as magnetic card packs, magnetic mobile phone holders, and magnetic charging treasures came to our eyes again.
Nowadays, even if you don't look at Apple, which has tried magnet applications (iBooks) since 1999 and may have built-in magnets in addition to polishing cloths, many manufacturers have begun to try to use magnets in their own products to improve the user experience.
MageSafe card holder and AirPods charging case "love each other".
When I was complacent about buying DJI OM3 at the lowest price in history, the DJI OM4 was officially released, and magnetism was one of its major selling points, and even in the official advertisement, the three generations that could not magnetize became the object of its ridicule.
When I got my hands on the heat dissipation back clip and prepared to enter the King's Canyon and compete with various heroes, the newly released magnetic heat dissipation back clip came into my eyes.
Wireless, insensible, may be the direction that all digital products are pursuing. The magnet is a powerful assistant to achieve this goal, and "magnetic absorption" has even become one of the standards for many digital enthusiasts to buy products.
There are more things to worry about than degaussing
"Although the magnet can bring a lot of convenience to our lives, it will make my ID card and bank card demagnetize." I believe you have heard similar sayings in your life, will the magnet really demagnetize the cards we carry with us?
As long as the magnetic material is placed in the AC magnetic field, the demagnetization phenomenon will occur, so the magnet can erase the data on the floppy disk and tape.
However, the second-generation resident identity cards, bank cards, and credit cards we use are all cards with built-in integrated circuits (that is, IC cards), and the information is stored in the IC chip, not through the magnetic medium to store the information. So when we use it, we say "swipe", but in fact, we only use induction.
Instead of worrying about degaussing, it is more important to worry about "physical damage", that is, bending, cutting, etc. to destroy the card.
However, some old room cards and shopping cards may still use magnetic cards, so it is necessary to stay away from magnetic devices such as induction cookers and microwave ovens to avoid magnetic stripe friction and scratches.
So, the magnet that does not degauss the card is without any drawbacks? Of course not. Like the situation that the magnet is installed in reverse and causes the headphone box to not cover, and the situation that the headphones pop up when the box is opened is naturally an isolated case, but the headphone box that turns black after attracting iron filings is really not good.0
Netizens shared the use of wind oil to clean the iron filings on the AirPods box.
You may have also encountered a computer or mobile phone inexplicably lock screen or black screen, which is also likely because of the nearby magnet, so that the device mistakenly thought that you closed the lid.
However, with the improvement of the process and the enrichment of the lid detection method (such as light sensor), these problems will be slowly solved. But in terms of health, magnets have more problems than demagnetization that should be worried about us.
In January, the Journal of the American Heart Association published a study arguing that MagSafe technology from Apple's iPhone 12/12 Pro series interferes with pacemakers and defibrillators.
Immediately after, Apple's official website in China published a list of products, and said that these products should be kept at a safe distance from implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, because there may be potential magnetic interference.
This list includes the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series, Apple Watch and accessories, Mac and accessories, iPad and accessories, HomePod series speakers, Beats series headphones, and almost all of Apple's product lines.
If you have a pacemaker or defibrillator implanted, use these products to ensure that the product is 15 cm (6 inches) away from the medical device and 30 cm (12 inches) away when charging.
A magnet that works well may not be suitable for everyone.
In addition to sucking together, rejection also has great uses
What else can magnets do for us?
In addition to mutual attraction, repulsion is also one of the characteristics of magnets. The use of magnet repulsion and attraction characteristics, can be able to fix the object, move the object, lift the object.
However, our common magnet applications, whether it is a protective case, a card pack or a charging device, only take advantage of the magnet's ability to "fix objects", while the other two use cases do not seem to have many applications.
Other products utilizing magnets are also mostly for this role.
Less is not nothing, in 2018, Xiaomi MIX3 adopted a magnetic power slide rail, used to achieve a true full screen display effect.
When the slide is closed, the magnet under the screen creates an upward component of the magnetic force, which supports the screen while preventing the screen from sliding. When the slide is opened, the component of the magnetic force is the opposite of the force of the finger sliding, which gives us a damping feeling when using it.
We will not discuss the effect of achieving a full screen in this way, but the use of magnets to attract repulsion, so that the slide will not be loose and misplaced due to the change of time, this is indeed a simple and clever design.
Whether it is attracting or rejecting, products that use magnetic suction always make us feel elegant and refined.
Perhaps in the near future, we will also see the lifting table become a "magnetic levitation table" to achieve a quiet and stepless rise and fall; the camera slide becomes a "magnetic power slide", which is not only more stable, but also has a longer service life.
Approaching, attracting, fixing; approaching, repelling, moving. Using a magnet that experiences almost no feeling seems to have an indescribable charm that makes us want to apply it to more and more scenarios.
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