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Airtag In a Mac mini

ab225

ab225

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 21, 2016
112
101
In the last 6 weeks I’ve had a MacBook Air, iPad and 2014 Mac mini stolen (amongst other things from my home). None of the find my devices tracking or marked as stolen have worked. I’ve bought a cheap replacement 1.4 4GB 2014 Mac mini as a media player (to replace a 2014 2.6 8GB. In the next few days I’m swapping the HD for a SSD.

I forget how much room is in there. But I’m thinking about putting an airtag inside to be able to track down anyone who might steal something in the future.

Anyone tried this?

Do you think it would work in terms of space and also signal (being inside a mostly metal enclosure)?
 
Yep, I think it would work fine. Get yourself some strong double-sided tape to be able to secure it somewhere inside. (thinking maybe on the hard drive might be the best spot)

Edit: Do NOT use a hot glue gun - the battery's only good for about a year - you want to be able to replace it. (or replace the airtag if it has any defects).
 
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fischersd said:
Yep, I think it would work fine. Get yourself some strong double-sided tape to be able to secure it somewhere inside. (thinking maybe on the hard drive might be the best spot)

Edit: Do NOT use a hot glue gun - the battery's only good for about a year - you want to be able to replace it. (or replace the airtag if it has any defects).
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Thanks good idea. I guess I'll tape it to the space where the PCIe would normally be
 
ab225 said:
In the last 6 weeks I’ve had a MacBook Air, iPad and 2014 Mac mini stolen (amongst other things from my home). None of the find my devices tracking or marked as stolen have worked.
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Sorry to hear that… What happened when you tried to track the devices using Find My?
 
The Mini's aluminum enclosure may block (or at least reduce) the signal coming from the Airtag.
 
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Crowbot said:
Macs already have tracking capabilities. They are included in Find My.
Click to expand...
citivolus said:
Sorry to hear that… What happened when you tried to track the devices using Find My?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but in all 3 devices Find My doesn't work for thefts. If someone is stealing it, they turn it off and keep it disconnected from the internet. I've marked all of them as lost. There hasn't been one tracking update since they were taken from my home.
 
fischersd said:
You should also turn on the firmware password (https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT204455) as well as drive encryption (FileVault)
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Yeah I did that too. I hope it’s made it more difficult for whoever stole it. But so far the tracking and security features haven’t worked when someone is stealing something. Find my works great for lost things, just not stolen things I’m finding.
 
For future reference, an AirTag fits in fine where the PCIe SSD would go. Lots of room.
 

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I would be worried about the metal enclosure of the mini blocking the signal from the AirTag. Judging by your picture you've already got it setup, any info on how well you were able to connect once it was all closed up?
 
parseckadet said:
I would be worried about the metal enclosure of the mini blocking the signal from the AirTag. Judging by your picture you've already got it setup, any info on how well you were able to connect once it was all closed up?
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The plastic bottom should pass the Bluetooth but it won't be strong.
 
parseckadet said:
I would be worried about the metal enclosure of the mini blocking the signal from the AirTag. Judging by your picture you've already got it setup, any info on how well you were able to connect once it was all closed up?
Click to expand...
Crowbot said:
The plastic bottom should pass the Bluetooth but it won't be strong.
Click to expand...

Yeah I actually had to revise it after a day or so. Even though there's the mesh of holes by the airport antenna, it was shielding any signal coming in or out. I had to tack it in between the metal mesh and the plastic. It's not a comfortable fit - it bulges and the clips get pushed out. I had to bend the mesh plate in to be able to fit it there. But, now the signal is great, even when it's sitting on the floor.
 

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ab225 said:
In the last 6 weeks I’ve had a MacBook Air, iPad and 2014 Mac mini stolen (amongst other things from my home). None of the find my devices tracking or marked as stolen have worked. I’ve bought a cheap replacement 1.4 4GB 2014 Mac mini as a media player (to replace a 2014 2.6 8GB. In the next few days I’m swapping the HD for a SSD.

I forget how much room is in there. But I’m thinking about putting an airtag inside to be able to track down anyone who might steal something in the future.

Anyone tried this?

Do you think it would work in terms of space and also signal (being inside a mostly metal enclosure)?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure AirTags would work better than the built-in Find My for iPad and MacBook. Mac Mini, maybe, since that doesn't have an internal battery.
In any case, the thief is most likely re-purposing those devices as spare parts—noting that Find My can't find them and they has Firmware password and FileVault enabled. If that's true, AirTags would be the first thing that would be removed and de-activated when the thief starts to dismantle the device.
 
adib said:
I'm not sure AirTags would work better than the built-in Find My for iPad and MacBook. Mac Mini, maybe, since that doesn't have an internal battery.
In any case, the thief is most likely re-purposing those devices as spare parts—noting that Find My can't find them and they has Firmware password and FileVault enabled. If that's true, AirTags would be the first thing that would be removed and de-activated when the thief starts to dismantle the device.
Click to expand...
That's what I would've thought, but in the 2 months now since the iPad and MacBook were stolen there has been absolutely zero tracking information and iCloud has never been able to connect to them to mark them as lost. The MacBook had FileVault enabled, but not the Mac mini.

When a thief would be in the process of taking this Mac mini with an AirtTag inside, they won't know it's in there until they think to take off the base plate and hopefully divulge some incriminating location data. Honestly, it seems better than Find My for devices which for stolen things, doesn't seem relevant, especially then they just turn it off.
 
ab225 said:
That's what I would've thought, but in the 2 months now since the iPad and MacBook were stolen there has been absolutely zero tracking information and iCloud has never been able to connect to them to mark them as lost. The MacBook had FileVault enabled, but not the Mac mini.

When a thief would be in the process of taking this Mac mini with an AirtTag inside, they won't know it's in there until they think to take off the base plate and hopefully divulge some incriminating location data. Honestly, it seems better than Find My for devices which for stolen things, doesn't seem relevant, especially then they just turn it off.
Click to expand...

Unlikely. These people are professionals, having full knowledge of the Find My network. Hence they would operate in a Faraday cage. But not in a room full of potentially snitching Apple devices.

Btw, you already have a data leak situation due to the Mac Mini not having FileVault enabled. I recommend you change any secret that may be housed inside that Mini.
 
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adib said:
Unlikely. These people are professionals, having full knowledge of the Find My network. Hence they would operate in a Faraday cage. But not in a room full of potentially snitching Apple devices.

Btw, you already have a data leak situation due to the Mac Mini not having FileVault enabled. I recommend you change any secret that may be housed inside that Mini.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not sure the guys who stole were that pro. I think they just knew to turn it off. But they would've sold it quickly onto someone who would know to block signals.

I'm not worried about the data on the Mac mini, I didn't store passwords on it or any personal files, it was just used as a media machine. Nothing
 
ab225 said:
That's what I would've thought, but in the 2 months now since the iPad and MacBook were stolen there has been absolutely zero tracking information and iCloud has never been able to connect to them to mark them as lost. The MacBook had FileVault enabled, but not the Mac mini.

When a thief would be in the process of taking this Mac mini with an AirtTag inside, they won't know it's in there until they think to take off the base plate and hopefully divulge some incriminating location data. Honestly, it seems better than Find My for devices which for stolen things, doesn't seem relevant, especially then they just turn it off.
Click to expand...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Airtags only work by crowdsourcing, once the device has left your possession, right?

So if someone steals it, it would take another iPhone device close by enough for BT to see it? If the thief is an Android user, Airtag is useless.
 
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dmylrea said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Airtags only work by crowdsourcing, once the device has left your possession, right?

So if someone steals it, it would take another iPhone device close by enough for BT to see it? If the thief is an Android user, Airtag is useless.
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That's right yeah. I'm relying on the fact someone with an Apple device will be in within a few metres of them. Not a bulletproof plan, but I'm just doing what I can!
 
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