Weird thing happening when touching a Nexus 5 and a MacBook | Hacker News Reader

Weird thing happening when touching a Nexus 5 and a MacBook

medium.com

31 pointsandraskindler28 comments

The Nexus 5 has a magnetic sensor to detect when the case cover is closed shut. I suspect this is being triggered by a speaker or some other magnetic element of the MacBook.

MacBooks use magnets to keep the lid closed (it's not a mechanical lock).

Maybe it's just me, but isn't it a bit scary there are so many hidden magnets around? I'll have to add the edge of my MacBook to the list of things to keep credit cards away from...

That myth was busted.

Credit cards might be more robust, but I have recently had problems with multiple gift cards near a magnet becoming unreadable.

Credit cards are "robust" if they have a chip inside, since the stripe is irrelevant in chip transactions.

I wouldn't be confident in the face of a neodymium fridge magnet being rubbed across the mag stripe of a credit card.

I have a cochlear implant; the external headpiece has neodymium magnets in it. Sometimes when it starts raining suddenly, I toss the external bit into my pocket or my messenger bag to keep it from getting soaked (and losing my hearing).

What I'm getting at is that the magnets have ruined my credit/debit cards several times, so I wouldn't consider this a "myth" at all.

How is it a myth that magnets can erase magnetic stripes?

Many myths are true. That happens to be one.

For me, my cards go from my wallet to the cashier, then back to the wallet. Online orders are done through a disposable card number. But my fear with magnets has always been removable media. But since we are way beyond the days of floppies, and USB stick, CD/DVD etc aren't affected, I guess I should work on removing my personal fear of magnets now.

Yeah, some sort of magnet sensor. They're also used for detecting when you insert your phone into a docking station. And for Google Cardboard's button.

That's what I was thinking. There's also the MacBook electricity thing: http://www.mactalk.com.au/24/113595-static-electricity-vibra...

Thanks for posting this. Good to know I'm not going crazy and my Macbook AND iPhone vibrate from time to time when plugged in.

So that problem carried over to newer models?

This has been an issue with the PowerBook G4 models in the past as well. The iBook G4 models also had this problem but only on the lid button.

Exactly. Same thing happens when you stack two macbook on top of each other. The magnet on one triggers the other one to sleep.

The Insane Clown Posse are equally baffled by this phenomenon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmvxAcT_Yc

"F*n Hall Effect Sensors, how do they work?"

They are commonly called Hall Effect sensors [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect_sensor

Is this really HN worthy?

Furthermore, I thought Medium was supposed to be a place for quality story-telling. Guess it's jumped the shark, too.

Write an article on medium.com and ask!

I've seen the opposite happen - the MacBook screen turning off - when placing an open macbook on top of a closed one. I'm guessing that case is to do with magnets activating the closed-sensor.

I've replicated this with a Nexus 6 by placing it over the speakers of an MBP (it locks the screen, rather than turning it off) which also suggests magnetic? I'm thinking Motorola planned a Nexus 6 case similar to the Galaxy Note flip cover.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fucking-magnets-how-do-they-wo...

This is just my own biased opinion, but if you're reading HN, shouldn't this one have been just about as obvious as it gets?!?!

I had a similar issue, except it was my MacBook going to sleep - when I used it on the Tokyo subway.

http://west.io/post/2015/05/01-the-case-of-the-sleeping-macb...

Y U NO comments on your blog?

Had the same problem with an Acer Chromebook and a Nexus 4, the Chromebook goes in sleep mode when the phone is placed over the keyboard in a particular position.

It happens with my iPad occasionally too. Putting the iPad next to the trackpad will occasionally put the Macbook to sleep.

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