There’s a long-standing belief that magnets are dangerous in electronics, but can they really harm your phone or computer?
Why do people care about magnets?
Concerns about magnets and electronics are not based on complete fiction, specifically, but based on science. Before you panic, however, take comfort in knowing that it is very unlikely that magnets will damage electronics.
Don’t worry: Wi-Fi is not dangerous
Persistence in the idea of magnets-destroying-electronics is because people do not understand that it is a toxic dose, so to speak, not unlike the confusion surrounding Wi-Fi security.
Your Wi-Fi router uses the same frequency as your microwave (both are in the 2.4Ghz range). But the level of power and the input of the second power output are very different. You can boil a glass of water in your microwave in a short time, but the amount of microwave power that your Wi-Fi router emits is so weak that you cannot raise that glass of water. Same idea with magnets. Most of the magnets around you (fridge magnets, magnetic latches on tablets, magnetic phone holders, etc.) are weak magnets. They are very hard to do the work they are made to do but not strong.
And then, on the other side of the magnetic power spectrum, you have large neodymium magnets and electromagnets that can cause problems in electronic devices and even loss of data under certain conditions. But, unless you work in an industrial, medical or scientific field where strong magnets are used, if you bring your devices near these magnets while they are working work, there is less chance that you will damage your device.
However, just to reassure you, let’s look at the dangers of magnets around computers and cell phones.
Can magnets damage my PC or laptop?
If your computer has a traditional magnetic hard drive (as opposed to the newer solid-state drives), there is always a chance that the hard drive will be damaged by the strong magnetic field. This power is small, but unless you stick a large neodymium magnet directly to the hard drive yourself or leave your laptop in an industrial area, you have nothing to worry about.
A hard drive degausser and a loaded hard drive and tree. Avoid hard drive degaussers like this and you’ll be fine. Proton Data Storage
So, if you find this article while trying to find out if your child is putting a fridge magnet or a magnetic toy across your laptop or PC, don’t worry. The danger is not real and the strength of these small magnets is not even close to the strength of the magnets in the hard drive.
Join 425,000 subscribers and get daily tips, news, stories and trivia. Also, if your laptop or desktop computer only has a solid state drive, no magnetic drive or magnetized data will be damaged in the first place.
Can magnets damage my phone?
The answer to whether or not magnets can harm your phone is actually more harmful than you might think.
At first glance, the answer will be like no, because there is no phone with magnetic media, hard drive or similar things. And of course, this answer is true in almost all cases.
Magnetic car mounts, cases with magnets, etc. low risk. In fact, some phones have even stronger magnets, such as the MagSafe magnetic ring on the back of modern iPhones.
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However, there are isolated cases where magnets can cause minor problems with the phone, but not permanent damage. Phones use small internal magnets for various purposes, such as in image stabilization systems for lenses. A magnet or holder with a magnet near the sensors can temporarily disable them. You can buy other lens accessories for your phone that use a magnetic ring to attach other lenses to the original lens, and find that after installing it, the autofocus function or image stabilization works. ‘a bad way.
Similar problems arise when magnets are close to the internal compass sensor. Magnetic fields from magnetic devices or nearby magnets can cause inaccuracies in compass readings, resulting in unpredictable results when using devices based on a compass sensor.
These two issues are almost immediately resolved when the magnet is removed or changed to a new location on the phone so that the sensor is outside of the strongest part of the magnet. If you want to avoid problems, look for a magnetic kit made for your phone by the manufacturer or an authorized partner. The strength and placement of magnets in the device is carefully monitored to avoid issues related to the type of phone in question.
And when it comes to magnets in general, the same computer advice applies to phones: don’t put your phone on strong magnets like those used on hard drives. Even if you don’t have a small hard drive in your phone that you can erase, you don’t want to put in the unusual (but obviously possible) consequences like magnetizing the contents of the phone in such a way that it will be thrown away. the senses are subtle.
Keep your electronics, laptop, phone, or other devices away from company devices designed to wipe hard drives or other strong magnets, and you’ll be fine.
