[HN Gopher] Magnetically Modelling MagSafe
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       Magnetically Modelling MagSafe
        
       Author : kavinaidoo
       Score  : 73 points
       Date   : 2023-10-28 09:25 UTC (13 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (kavi.sblmnl.co.za)
 (TXT) w3m dump (kavi.sblmnl.co.za)
        
       | stereo wrote:
       | The web server seems to have received the HN hug of death, but
       | there's a video by the same author at
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAMtdQ-h_dk
       | 
       | There's also a cached version of an old magsafe article on that
       | website by the same author at
       | https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:msNKQI...
        
         | tjoff wrote:
         | Ah, that magsafe. As an android user that is the only thing I
         | yearn from the iphone.
         | 
         | Feels like a requirement to do wireless charging (note, I have
         | not played with wireless charging despite having it on and off
         | since 2010, so I could be mistaken).
        
           | rmellow wrote:
           | Magsafe is not wireless charging.
           | 
           | A Magsafe cable/port is a "trip safe" charging system, as the
           | power cable is attached to the computer solely by magnets so
           | that it will not break the port if yanked out at an angle.
        
             | tjoff wrote:
             | No, the article (and linked youtube) is about the magnets
             | on an iphone (apparently also called magsafe, hence the
             | "that magsafe" part of my comment). This, among other
             | benefits, aligns the phone perfectly and thus alleviates
             | wireless charging alignment issues.
             | 
             | Which at least 10 years ago used to be a big issue. Not
             | sure how current iterations perform.
        
               | alpaca128 wrote:
               | This magsafe wireless charging system is great, although
               | you still have to make sure it actually starts charging
               | because the magnets can align it incorrectly if the phone
               | placement is too far off.
        
               | JoBrad wrote:
               | I'm not sure how this would happen, if your case fits the
               | phone correctly. When I put a MagSafe case on my phone, I
               | get an animation showing that it fit. Subsequent
               | attachment of MagSafe components just need to align with
               | the case, since the case is already aligned with the
               | phone.
        
               | 8ytecoder wrote:
               | I've not had that happen ever. MagSafe manages to align
               | the phone perfectly.
        
             | mort96 wrote:
             | The magsafe cable/port you're talking about exists, and is
             | on the current line of MacBook Pros.
             | 
             | However, the magsafe feature on iPhones is something
             | completely different, it's the system where they have
             | magnets in the back of the phone which can be used to
             | attach various accessories, attach the phone to mounts, or
             | guide the phone to rest correctly on wireless charging
             | pads.
        
           | skyyler wrote:
           | It was how wireless charging worked in the Palm ecosystem,
           | with their touchstone wireless charging dock.
           | 
           | That was around 2010, as well.
        
             | buildbot wrote:
             | It was a really great feature, really well implemented too.
             | It's sad webos and the palm pre never really took off.
        
               | arcticbull wrote:
               | Agreed, webOS was really cool. It ended up acquired by HP
               | and subsequently LG who use it for TVs now.
               | 
               | https://www.lg.com/us/experience-tvs/smart-tv/use
        
           | Arainach wrote:
           | If Peak Design makes a case for your phone, they're Magsafe-
           | compatible. Probably not literally to the spec, but they've
           | worked with every accessory I've tried, chargers included.
        
             | tjoff wrote:
             | Thanks, it is compatible and I've been eyeballing one since
             | my comment :)
             | 
             | I'm not a fan of cases, so it hinges on how bulky it is.
             | But it looks like a solid product.
             | 
             | My understanding is that Qi2 will be magsafe-compatible,
             | which bodes well for future android phones and accessory
             | support.
        
         | afandian wrote:
         | Are magstripe cards expected to survive that?
        
           | alexdbird wrote:
           | That's not an issue in most of the world; I don't think any
           | of my current cards have _ever_ been swiped. However there
           | are still plenty of transit tickets that use a magstripe, and
           | having those wiped is super inconvenient.
        
             | somehnguy wrote:
             | Hotel keys are what comes to mind as the only cards that I
             | still swipe. A year ago I checked into a hotel and went
             | back out to the car to grab my stuff - when getting back in
             | I learned that I had immediately wiped the magstrip by
             | putting it in my phone pocket. Had to reroute right back to
             | the front desk.
        
             | IggleSniggle wrote:
             | I lost the ability to use a parking exit card (mag swipe)
             | due to a having a magnet in my wallet a year ago.
        
             | LtWorf wrote:
             | I was in vacation in greece and we had issues because
             | seemingly the phones reset their magnetic keys, so we
             | needed a new one daily until we were told to keep them in a
             | different pocket.
        
           | NavinF wrote:
           | All the magstripes on my credit cards, library card, etc
           | survived magstripes for over 2 years now. Tho I guess I
           | wouldn't know if a card got wiped recently since I've been
           | using contactless+biometric payments for almost the same
           | length of time in the US. I've had paper magstripes (Paris
           | metro tickets) wiped by magsafe so it's technically possible
           | if the magstripe is extremely cheap/weak. IIRC metros are
           | phasing out paper tickets for this reason
        
           | dontlaugh wrote:
           | Are they still used? None of my cards have one.
        
             | afandian wrote:
             | All the UK payment cards I've ever had have one. I don't
             | know if ATMs use them or the chips. For payment itself
             | contactless is now the norm.
             | 
             | UK printed train tickets are all magstripe. There are
             | phone-based alternatives and contactless payment card
             | alternatives in London. But the magstripe tickets are still
             | mainstream.
        
               | dontlaugh wrote:
               | Also UK. All of my renewed ones lack magstripes, I didn't
               | realise they're still around.
        
       | andreareina wrote:
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20231028092556/https://kavi.sblm...
        
       | willis936 wrote:
       | Does anyone have some magnetic film and a second camera? I'd like
       | to see the field cross section.
       | 
       | https://www.magnetshop.com/magnet-accessories/magnetic-field...
        
         | j_bum wrote:
         | MKBHD did this with the iPhone 13 Pro:
         | https://youtu.be/dSL6KiMeNOI?si=rI0-FYrf0ZHt9FYQ
         | 
         | Magnet paper goes on at around 0:15
        
           | anfractuosity wrote:
           | There's also another type of magnetic viewing film that
           | doesn't seem to use oil filled capsules with flakes of metal
           | in.
           | 
           | This is a picture I just took, it doesn't really do it
           | justice but you can get rainbow like effects from it -
           | https://www.anfractuosity.com/files/mag2.jpg
           | 
           | This is the same film with a special type of cylindrical
           | magnet below - https://www.anfractuosity.com/files/mag1.jpg
           | 
           | Edit: It seems to be this -
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetochromism it seems to use
           | encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles in water in a film
        
             | philsnow wrote:
             | United Nuclear has those
             | https://unitednuclear.com/magnaview-film-p-629.html
        
               | anfractuosity wrote:
               | That looks like the type with nickel flakes to me (https:
               | //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_viewing_film), as
               | it's not showing different colours
               | 
               | This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfdq3oA6-4M
               | shows the colours better than my photos
        
               | blincoln wrote:
               | > That looks like the type with nickel flakes to me
               | 
               | I agree. It's a night and day difference versus the
               | magnetochromic viewing film. The monochrome film doesn't
               | reset itself after the field is removed,[1] and the
               | contrast is not as good.
               | 
               | I bought both types on Amazon a few years ago. The
               | specific magnetochromic film I bought at the time
               | disappeared from Amazon (along with its vendor) shortly
               | thereafter, but it seems like at least one seller has the
               | same kind of product again.[2]
               | 
               | [1] I suppose this might be useful for some applications,
               | but I dislike the "ghosting" effect.
               | 
               | [2] https://www.amazon.com/CMS-MAGNETICS-Green-Magnetic-
               | Viewing/... ("Olive Film" variation specifically)
        
             | richk449 wrote:
             | Any idea where I could buy this? It would be really helpful
             | for my work.
        
               | anfractuosity wrote:
               | I'm not sure which seller I used afraid, but there's a
               | number on aliexpress such as in the links below, it has
               | kind of an olive colour like blincoln noted.
               | 
               | * https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005510364934.html
               | 
               | * https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004242373777.html
               | 
               | The colour apparently relates to the field strength too
        
       | kavinaidoo wrote:
       | It appears that my web hosting can't survive hacker news. Sorry
       | for that! Thanks to andreareina for commenting a working archive
       | link. Also thanks to stereo for commenting my intro YouTube video
       | and another post I wrote on MagSafe.
        
         | RGBCube wrote:
         | The costs of not using Cloudflare :)
        
       | linuxdude314 wrote:
       | Was expecting to see Maxwell's equations and an actual model of
       | MagSafes magnetism.
       | 
       | This is more or less an exploded diagram.
        
       | 3seashells wrote:
       | Magnetic connectors were the bane of my existence with laptops on
       | industrial manufacturing or actually any place that produces
       | occasionally Metall swarf. Classic designers and engineers
       | ignoring use cases.
        
       | peter_d_sherman wrote:
       | There's something weird-but-interesting (or interesting-but-
       | weird, if you prefer!) going on here...
       | 
       | The following image, while not the best representation, alludes
       | to it...
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20231027215551im_/https://kavi.s...
       | 
       | Basically, the way I conceptualize it, is as follows:
       | 
       | Given two simple magnets (A and C) in motion, approaching one
       | another's proximity, but not on the same plane so as to cause
       | impact, as might be the case inside of an electric motor -- the
       | magnetic flux will swing in normal predictable ways...
       | 
       | Nothing to see there...
       | 
       | But given four (or more) magnets, A, B, C, D -- where A and B are
       | close to one another and fixed in position and cannot move
       | relative to one another, but both of them can move as a group,
       | relative to magnets C and D (who are also similarly fixed in
       | position near one another, and can't move relative to one
       | another, but both C and D can move as a group, relative to the
       | position of A and B)...
       | 
       | Well, given all of that, there would seem to be some magnetic
       | arrangements of A and B (and C and D) -- where the fields
       | generated by the combined orientation of A and B -- will _swing
       | wildly_ when approached (and subsequently receded by) C and D...
       | 
       | These magnetic arrangements, orientations, of 4 magnets or more,
       | with sets of two being fixed in position -- could be worth
       | exploring -- based on the _wild field swings_ they could
       | potentially produce...
       | 
       | Applications?
       | 
       | Well, I don't as-of-yet know! But the future, I'm sure -- might
       | invent some!
       | 
       | For now however -- it might make for some interesting, purely
       | curiosity-driven explorations!
        
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       (page generated 2023-10-28 23:01 UTC)