AirTag 2: Everything We Know So Far

[cocky jeremy]

I let the ones I have die and never replaced the batteries, so I doubt they'll add anything I care about enough to buy them.

 

[Aston441]

I used isopropyl alcohol. The coating came right off. (I could see the brown stain on the cloth). Tag is still working.

Didn’t work for me. Different coatings are different maybe. Would be nice to have a list of known good batteries for AirTag, since I’m coming up on another round of replacements soon.

 

[mrmax86]

It's literally the same size as the watch charging puck. Talk about an ecosystem win if they can make it rechargeable that way. Also, then they can also glue it shut like everything else they make

 

[robbietop]

"Apple is also expected to introduce a hidden "Track my Cheating Spouse who I just know is seeing that hussy, oh wait he's at his friend Dan's house they're probably inviting strippers over and not actually playing DND as a Level 36 Paladin."

 

[thefourthpope]

You must have a knock-off if you are putting CR2032s in your AirPods.

User replaceable batteries is the main upgrade we need. These could just dangle like earrings 😂

 

[Crowbot]

Didn’t work for me. Different coatings are different maybe. Would be nice to have a list of known good batteries for AirTag, since I’m coming up on another round of replacements soon.

You could try buffing the outer rim and bottom of the battery (the two contact points) with some fine sandpaper (emery board). Also, run alcohol around the contacts on the Tag. Lastly, make sure the battery is good. (That one got me a couple of times)

I'm not shilling for them but I usually go with Duracell®. My experience has been that it's rarely worth going cheap on things like that.

 

[Jigga Beef]

I want a product red one

I want a product red with a U2 album

 

[sdf]

everything we know:

apparently, we know nothing.

 

[Crowbot]

everything we know:

apparently, we know nothing.

Right but if they banned speculation this site would shut down in an hour.

 

[drumcat]

This really needs family sharing. That is the one feature they lack that makes it pointless at home. My device is the only way to find anything.

Software issue. Won't affect current or new hardware. It's implementation. I think it's expected soon.

 

[gaximus]

People have begged Apple for replaceable batteries, and when they finally do, “it’s too easy”, “I prefer wireless charging”. People are impossible to please.

 

[Aston441]

Yeah, god forbid you have to go through that hardship.

Built-in batteries are basically a death sentence. As soon as you put too many cycles on the battery, you throw away the device.

iPhone with AAA batteries FTW!

 

[ignatius345]

iPhone with AAA batteries FTW!

LOL that would be hilarious.

Phones and laptops are fortunately a bit different in that built-in lithium batteries can and do get replaced. But with more basic stuff like a keyboard or a bluetooth speaker or a little tracker or whatever, the death of the battery essentially means the death of the device -- even if all the other components are still working fine.

 

[Aston441]

LOL that would be hilarious.

Phones and laptops are fortunately a bit different in that built-in lithium batteries can and do get replaced. But with more basic stuff like a keyboard or a bluetooth speaker or a little tracker or whatever, the death of the battery essentially means the death of the device -- even if all the other components are still working fine.

Magic mouse, Trackpad and Magic Keyboard have plenty of space for AAA rechargeables. There's even AAAA rechargeables. I had a AAAA flashlight once, it was awesome.

 

[ignatius345]

This really needs family sharing. That is the one feature they lack that makes it pointless at home. My device is the only way to find anything.

Yep, this has been holding me back as well. But there's good news in iOS 17:

 

[_Spinn_]

I’ve been happy with my AirTags. Not sure they really need any major improvements.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Remembering the time when Apple introduce AirTags.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1692706550832308534

 

[TVreporter]

Yep, this has been holding me back as well. But there's good news in iOS 17:

View attachment 2246966

While welcome doesn’t resolve my issue when handing down an iPhone 8-plus to my oldest kid. It’s being dropped for support at ios17. Guess I’ll be keeping tabs on his stuff too!

 

[sdf]

Right but if they banned speculation this site would shut down in an hour.

Absolutely. And I like speculation, I just wish it was less frequently breathlessly reported as fact. 😀

You could argue it's on a site called macrumors so people should understand that and you'd be right. but they don't, do they? 🤣

 

[Ryan P]

I played around with the Watch Ultra 2’s abilities to locate the IPhone 15 Pro and it is extremely impressive. Far beyond what you get with the current AirTags, so ya bring that to the next version!

 

[indychris]

An updated version of the Annoy-My-Family-Tags surely must be a win, right? I can’t tell you how many times someone has used a piece of luggage or used my car keys and after a while the wife or one of the kids complains about warning messages that someone is stalking them. I’ve let them all die a slow death. They are virtually useless at this point for theft detection and annoying to others. Won’t be buying an updated version.

 

[drumcat]

An updated version of the Annoy-My-Family-Tags surely must be a win, right? I can’t tell you how many times someone has used a piece of luggage or used my car keys and after a while the wife or one of the kids complains about warning messages that someone is stalking them. I’ve let them all die a slow death. They are virtually useless at this point for theft detection and annoying to others. Won’t be buying an updated version.

Put them up for sale. I find them incredibly useful, and most of those settings I have turned off. I would find them annoying too, but I figure hey, change the settings and see what happens. Turns out, when the notifications are off, I'm not bothered.

YMMV.

 

[indychris]

Put them up for sale. I find them incredibly useful, and most of those settings I have turned off. I would find them annoying too, but I figure hey, change the settings and see what happens. Turns out, when the notifications are off, I'm not bothered.

YMMV.

When they notify someone who steals stuff that you are tracking your stolen stuff, I find them virtually useless anyway. I still have one on my keyring, but the battery is dead. May replace that one simply because it is good for finding lost keys and benefited me greatly when my keys fell down beside a car seat where I could not see even with a flashlight.

 

[Crowbot]

When they notify someone who steals stuff that you are tracking your stolen stuff, I find them virtually useless anyway. I still have one on my keyring, but the battery is dead. May replace that one simply because it is good for finding lost keys and benefited me greatly when my keys fell down beside a car seat where I could not see even with a flashlight.

I think Apple is pretty clear that the only purpose for the tags is tracking your own (and your family's) stuff when you lose it. For that purpose they work very well for me. Theft tracking is a lot dicier because it spills over into stalker tracking.

 

[indychris]

I think Apple is pretty clear that the only purpose for the tags is tracking your own (and your family's) stuff when you lose it. For that purpose they work very well for me. Theft tracking is a lot dicier because it spills over into stalker tracking.

Undoubtedly liability causes many useful things to not be available due to evil motives of evil people. I've used my AirTags a total of one time in 2+ years to find keys that I eventually would have found. If helping track stolen goods isn't a 'good' feature for Apple, then I have no need of it. Crazy that we still sell alcohol in America. It has contributed to millions of more deaths than AirTags ever could.