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10+ Things to Know About the New AirTag 2

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After a five year wait, Apple finally unveiled the next-generation version of the AirTag earlier today. The AirTag 2 looks exactly like the original AirTag, and the functionality is similar, but there are still some differences worth knowing about.

Second-Generation-AirTag-Feature.jpg

Here's everything new.
  1. UWB 2 - The AirTag 2 adopts Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip.
  2. Longer Range - UWB upgrades mean that Precision Finding works from 1.5x further away than before. Precision Finding is the feature that allows an AirTag to be precisely located in a close-range indoor area. It is able to lead you directly to the AirTag with a compatible device.
  3. Precision Finding on Watch - Precision Finding was previously limited to the iPhone, but it now works on the Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, as these devices have UWB chips.
  4. Louder Speaker - The AirTag 2's speaker is up to 50 percent louder than the speaker in the original AirTag. The upgrade will make it easier to hear when playing a sound, plus it is an additional anti-stalking measure because it will be more difficult for sound to be masked.
  5. Better Bluetooth - Apple is using a newer Bluetooth specification with increased range.
  6. New Internal Design - To accommodate the updated speaker, Apple revamped the internals. Rumors suggested Apple would make it harder to tamper with the AirTag to remove the speaker, but we'll need to wait for a teardown for confirmation.
  7. Updated Weight - The AirTag 2 weighs 0.42 ounces or 11.8 grams. it is seven percent heavier than the original AirTag.
  8. Revamped Text - The text on the back of the AirTag is now all in capital letters, which is a good way to determine whether an AirTag is the first-generation model or the new model. The text also now lists IP67 water and dust resistance, plus it mentions NFC and Find My support. These features aren't new, but aren't listed on the back of the original AirTag.
  9. Still Not For Pets - Apple's AirTag 2 announcement and product page specifically state that the device is for tracking objects, and not people or pets. Despite this, many people use AirTags for tracking their animals.
  10. Reset Process - To reset an AirTag 2, you need to remove the battery, leave it out for at least five seconds, and then insert the battery again. The process has to be repeated four times. Apple says that it can take up to 12 seconds to hear the final tone. With the first AirTag, there was no need to wait after removing the battery before reinserting it.
  11. Requires iOS 26.2.1 - If you want to use an AirTag 2, you're going to have to update your device to iOS 26.2.1. The AirTag 2 requires the latest Apple software, which means it won't work with devices that aren't able to run iOS 26.
The AirTag 2 does everything that the original AirTag does, taking advantage of the Find My network. When the AirTag is not in Bluetooth range of your own device, it is able to ping Apple devices owned by others to relay its location back to you for long distance tracking.

It also supports Lost Mode, with an NFC feature for discovering who a lost item belongs to, plus it has options for sharing item location with someone else (useful in airports with participating airlines), and it continues to use a CR2032 coin cell battery. Apple says the battery "works for more than a year" before needing to be replaced.

The AirTag 2 is still priced at $29, with a pack of four available for $99. Free engraving is also included in the price point. The new AirTag can be purchased today, with orders set to be delivered starting on Wednesday, January 28.

Article Link: 10+ Things to Know About the New AirTag 2
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/26/10-things-to-know-about-the-new-airtag-2/
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Hmm, I’ve been using precision finding on my Apple Watch Ultra 2 for a while now. I read that it had to be paired with an iPhone 15 or later, but it definitely worked from the watch for the past year or two?
 
I think the original AirTag is in relative terms the best product Apple has ever made--it really does "just work", does exactly what it says on the tin exactly as well as promised, and basically feels like magic when you need it.

Everything here is unsurprising but solid improvements, particularly the watch find. I personally would have traded holder-backward-compatibility for even a slightly smaller form factor, but I can accept for most uses the current size is sufficiently small and people would rather not have to get new keychains or whatnot.

MacRumors said:
Still Not For Pets - Apple's AirTag 2 announcement and product page specifically state that the device is for tracking objects, and not people or pets. Despite this, many people use AirTags for tracking their animals.
Click to expand...
I remain mildly curious why Apple continues to call this out, since there's nothing as far as I can tell that would pose any risk to a pet that's greater than if it weren't attached to their collar. People put tags and bells on their pet collars all the time, how is a similar-sized AirTag that emits a minuscule amount of radiation any different? [Edit: Looking at official documentation, they actually don't--as quoted above, they just say it's "designed for tracking objects". Not that it won't work for people and pets, not suggesting you don't use it that way, just that it's not designed for it, which is no doubt true--it works better when the AirTag isn't moving at all.]

Yes, a dog could swallow it, but I'd guess they're far less likely to eat something on their collar than they are something that isn't on their collar--I've never once heard of a dog eating its own tags.

Fear that the battery could hypothetically leak and cause skin burns? The new one is IP 67, so I'd think even if it DID somehow leak (which I've never seen a coin cell do), it wouldn't escape the case.

In any case, they're incredibly useful for keeping track of an outdoor cat. I recently adopted a stray (or maybe feral) cat (or maybe more accurately it adopted me), and prior to it deciding to move into my house one of the folks feeding it put a collar with an AirTag on; being able to figure out where that little critter was was incredibly valuable, not to mention interesting. That cat, it turned out, would do a circuit to places a half-mile away on a nighty basis.
 
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Makosuke said:
I remain mildly curious why Apple continues to call this out, since there's nothing as far as I can tell that would pose any risk to a pet that's greater than if it weren't attached to their collar. People put tags and bells on their pet collars all the time, how is a similar-sized AirTag that emits a minuscule amount of radiation any different?
Click to expand...
Because people would get pissed if their animal freaked out when their collar beeped at them. It's "use at your own risk".
 
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Makosuke said:
I think the original AirTag is in relative terms the best product Apple has ever made--it really does "just work", does exactly what it says on the tin exactly as well as promised, and basically feels like magic when you need it.

Everything here is unsurprising but solid improvements, particularly the watch find. I personally would have traded holder-backward-compatibility for even a slightly smaller form factor, but I can accept for most uses the current size is sufficiently small and people would rather not have to get new keychains or whatnot.


I remain mildly curious why Apple continues to call this out, since there's nothing as far as I can tell that would pose any risk to a pet that's greater than if it weren't attached to their collar.
Click to expand...
I think the main reason is Apple doesn’t build or test these devices to be worn by living beings. There are a lot of moral and usability concerns here, and AirTags aren’t designed for that. So beyond the things you already mentioned, the fact someone might depend on this to track a living being is a concern in and of itself.
 
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These things saved my dogs TWICE. I know why they say not to use them. It's not like it's GPS and you have to understand that at a distance they just locate to whoever's phones grabbed the packet. But it allowed me to get to the area so my little doggos were found before they got too far away
 
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Makosuke said:
I think the original AirTag is in relative terms the best product Apple has ever made--it really does "just work", does exactly what it says on the tin exactly as well as promised, and basically feels like magic when you need it.

Everything here is unsurprising but solid improvements, particularly the watch find. I personally would have traded holder-backward-compatibility for even a slightly smaller form factor, but I can accept for most uses the current size is sufficiently small and people would rather not have to get new keychains or whatnot.


I remain mildly curious why Apple continues to call this out, since there's nothing as far as I can tell that would pose any risk to a pet that's greater than if it weren't attached to their collar. People put tags and bells on their pet collars all the time, how is a similar-sized AirTag that emits a minuscule amount of radiation any different?

Yes, a dog could swallow it, but I'd guess they're far less likely to eat something on their collar than they are something that isn't on their collar--I've never once heard of a dog eating its own tags.

Fear that the battery could hypothetically leak and cause skin burns? The new one is IP 67, so I'd think even if it DID somehow leak (which I've never seen a coin cell do), it wouldn't escape the case.

In any case, they're incredibly useful for keeping track of an outdoor cat. I recently adopted a stray (or maybe feral) cat (or maybe more accurately it adopted me), and prior to it deciding to move into my house one of the folks feeding it put a collar with an AirTag on; being able to figure out where that little critter was was incredibly valuable, not to mention interesting. That cat, it turned out, would do a circuit to places a half-mile away on a nighty basis.
Click to expand...
I just think that they don't want to claim it'll save your pets actually and I understand that. That being said, it's saved my dogs life TWICE already.
 
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So….what is that “newer Bluetooth specification” spoken of in the article?

I’m assuming BT 5.x ? Perhaps BT 5.3 to match what is on all the iPhones from 15 on and MacBooks from 2023 on ?

That would explain the more precise location ability which is down to centimeters because it employs Angle of Arrival and Angle of Departure signal measurement.
 
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