[syshum]

>> They are physically larger (substantially thicker) than the ones I've pulled from newer drives.

Not really, they look very close in size to current Enterprise Drives (https://imgur.com/2HjuuKM), Of course I have removed the Metal backing plate from mine

Now consumer drives do have smaller magnets (that is one way to save cost)

Here is a photo of the 4 styles of magnets I still personally have, the smaller magnets are either out of consumer drives and 2.5in drives manufactured in the last 7 years https://imgur.com/59XjVPm

And just for fun a small assortment of my collection because why not

https://imgur.com/bW6ycRI

[EvanAnderson]

I've only had the opportunity to tear down a few consumer drives in the last few years. I haven't seen inside an enterprise-class drive in a few years. (I've stopped dealing with hardware directly for my Customers, and I haven't purchased much hardware for personal use over the last few years.)

I've found scavenged hard drive magnets to be very useful for odd jobs. One served several years holding up the fallen head-liner over the drivers seat in one of my crappier cars.