In what is quite a first, iFixit has done a tear-down on Apple’s new Smart Covers and found that Apple has used a whopping 31 magnets to make the Smart Cover system work with 10 in the iPad and 21 in the cover. To the disappointment of the iFixit team, the magnets were the plain old two-pole kind, not the more intriguing correlated magnets, however the way in which the magnets were placed is what allows the Smart Cover to effectively clip on with relative ease and accuracy.

One of the magnets in the Smart Cover is used by the iPad to work out when the iPad should be locked and unlocked whilst the rest are used to “either clamp to the iPad on the right side (the far-right column of magnets), or to form the triangular shape used to create a stand for the iPad 2.” Finally the magnets inside the iPad 2 were polarised + - + - whilst the Smart Cover complemented this and had the opposite being - + - + (obviously to snap to together the magnets in either part must be opposite to attract each other).  Jump the break for some more break down images by iFixit!

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Speaking with several industry analysts, Bloomberg has reported that Apple could sell 600,000 units as it debuts this weekend. One such analyst, Brian Marshall from Gleacher & Co predicts more than 500,000 sales which would be close to double the original iPad’s 300,000 sales in 24 hours. Apple released its iPad 2 for purchase on its online store in the early hours of today and already orders are backlogged for 2-3 weeks, whilst Apple’s 236 US retail stores and select others will also offer the iPad 2 from 5PM today. Meanwhile many other countries will get the iPad 2 later this month on March 25^th.

The original iPad had massive success in sales, becoming the fastest selling product by revenue, reaping in $2 billion within three months, a feat that took the iPhone more than a year to achieve. Tim Bajarin said that “Apple has such a huge lead, competitors are going to be chasing Apple for many years” referring also to the fact that Apple’s competitors are only now releasing their first generation tablets in the coming months.

[Via Bloomberg]