At contact, and on the right target, a patterned magnet can hold much harder than a conventional magnet of the same size and grade. Away from contact it usually holds less, because its field reaches a shorter distance.
The reason is flux leakage. A conventional magnet sends much of its flux on long loops through the air, and that flux does no work holding steel. A multipole or coded pattern gives the flux short paths into the target, so more of the magnet's energy goes into the joint.
Correlated Magnetics Research publishes several figures for its Polymagnets. Its applications page says up to 5 times stronger than conventional magnets. Its home page says up to 4 times the strength of conventional magnets on standard sheet metal, which is what attach Polymagnets are tuned for. Its attach design note claims up to 8 times more shear strength. Treat these as vendor maxima from CMR's in-house testing, measured with magnets held parallel and aligned.
Size still matters. CMR notes that magnet energy scales with volume, that very small magnets have little energy unless practically touching their target, and that it has engineered magnets down to 4 mm in diameter. It recommends a gap under 2 mm. Test your own geometry, target thickness and coating before committing to a number.
WholeMagnetics, 2026-10-04. Polymagnet facts are taken from Correlated Magnetics Research’s public pages, listed below; vendor performance figures are CMR’s own.