Updated list of Apple devices that should be kept a safe distance away from pacemakers and other implanted medical equipment
Apple has updated its support web page which warns people about the issue of magnets in mobile devices, and how they can impact implanted medical devices.
The iPad maker added a number of new Apple products to the warning list, including AirPods and its charging case, Apple Watch, Beats headphones, HomePod, iPads, as well as iPhones.
The issue stems from the fact that magnets and radios emit electromagnetic fields, both of which ‘may interfere’ with medical devices such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators.
Magnet issue
An example of this came when a researcher was able, in an experiment, to deactivate a single patient’s implanted defibrillator by holding an iPhone 12 directly over the device.
Apple in January this year then issued a notice on its support pages warning people about the issue of magnets in mobile phones and keeping them away from implanted magnetic devices.
It recommended at the time that iPhones were kept at least six inches…
