Does Mini have sleep option when case Lid closed?

[Lunar]

Just wondered if the mini has the same auto sleep function built-in where it goes into standby
when the case lid is closed, IOW magnet in the case lid.

Reason I ask, is because it's not showing the option to enable/disable this feature in my settings.
It shows it in settings on my iPad3 but not the Mini ? also when I pass the edge of my iPad3 case lid where the magnet
is located around the edge of the Mini it does'nt do anything.

Surely, they haven't dropped this (close lid) sleep feature on the Mini... have they?

[Ads]

[Lunar]

Okay.. to answer my own question.. yes it does have the sleep/awaken feature but the option does NOT appear in settings until it's been triggered
by 2 magnets, one near the Home button and other in the corner. IOW the Mini requires 2 magnets in the cases for the sleep/awaken function to work. I've tried it and it does indeed work..

Looks like Apple are making it a little harder for thirdparty case manufacturers, I suspect many of the early non Apple cases
may not work.

[AQ_OC]

Not sure they are making it harder for anyone....they probably feel it works better.

[Lunar]

Well for something so simple it only needs one magnet surely.. it worked prefectly okay on the full iPad with 1 magnet, also I would say the positioning of them seems more critical to me... but jmo. now both magets have to do their job for it to work. .. seems to be over comlicating things...lol. Also, to have the OS check to see if there's a proper sleep/awaken case fitted before it even shows the option to enable/disable in settings seems overkill and un-necessary, previously it just got ignored if one was not fitted.

[AQ_OC]

The form factor is different on the mini. They did a new Smart Cover for it. One needs to draw a balance between magnet size, weight and force. The two magnets on either end help the cover stay closed. It seems to work well. I'm sure a designer there at apple spent some time actually working with different ways to handle it. I don't think they do anything to make things harder for case makers.

If one doesn't use a case, why have options show in menu that aren't needed? Its not overkill to make things easier for an unsophisticated user.

[twerppoet]

Seems obvious to me. It's just a way of preventing false signals. Instead of one magnetic source accidentally turning your iPad on/off, it takes two in the right position (and possibly the right polarity); an incremental improvement in the technology.

As far as case/cover manufactures, it would be an ineffective way of inconveniencing them. Given the difference in size, it already requires a redesign of the cover. Adding a magnet isn't going to have a significant impact on cost or effort on their part.

If Apple, for some bizarre reason, wanted to make life difficult for third party cases manufactures (something there is no evidence for), they could easily come up with something more effective.

[honda599]

I have iPad 3 and recently purchased mini. Mine too does not have sleep wake switch in general settings like my iPad 3 has. Went to Apple store and two guys had no clue. One suggested that I have latest update 6.0.2? Didn't even know there was one-that's because there isn't. The other guy suggested i set up appointment to have it left to be looked t with possible warranty implications. I checked with mini in store and sleep wake function is there with iOS 6.0.1 which is what I have. I went to Future Shop because Apple did not have any smart covers to try. After trying Smart Cover it put my mini to sleep and low and behold the switch showed up in general settings. I think Apple maybe trying to deter people from buying aftermarket covers as I can not see any other reason for not enabling this function from new.

[twerppoet]

The setting does not appear in settings until the iPad has detected a smart cover. Since third party covers would have to use the same magnets the feature should work exactly the same, and those covers should activate the settings option just the same.

The iPad doesn't show you the settings unless it's usable. That's all. There is no point in confusing people with an on/off switch that does nothing, or so the reasoning goes, I'm guessing.

Actually it is fairly common not to show irrelevant features, features that are only useful if you've installed certain software or activated an account. I admit the Smart Cover/Case setting is the only example of a hardware activated setting that I can think of, at least for the iPad.

Hold in mind there were some minor tweaks between the iPad 2 and iPad 3rd gen that caused some older covers not to work properly with the iPad 3. I seem to remember it having to do with the iPad 2 not being polarity sensitive, and the iPad 3 being so. Even some of the older Smart Covers didn't work with the iPad 3.

[AQ_OC]

I found the same kind of thing going on with the personal hotspot feature on my iPhone 4S. Until I got on a plan that had support for that feature it wasn't in setting anywhere. Once I switched my plan, it showed up once I went into the cellular submenu. It is clearly designed this way to minimize clutter in the settings. Best to only see options you can use. The fist use of a magnet enables the sleep/wake cover function. Makes sense.