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AirTags Feature IP67 Water Resistance, User Replaceable Battery That Lasts a Year
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This reminds me of the entire magic mouse charging uproar. I *still* see people complaining about how the mouse cannot be used while being charged or doesn't have replaceable batteries.
Really makes me wonder what people are doing and what exactly is so friggin difficult about plopping stuff on/plugging in every once in a while overnight or while getting a coffee. Charged Apple accesories last forever on one charge, it's not like iPhones or Watches that need to be charged daily. And they charge super fast.
I would've preferred a version that can be easily recharged similar to the watch. Granted, they may not last a full year and only 9 months, but really? That's still a really long time. With replaceable batteries you gotta have the batteries at hand, first. I don't know about any of you, I always have AA's and AAA's at home, but I don't routinely stock any of the smaller cell batteries, ever. So, chances are I miss any notification of low battery status, end up with a dead tag, have to scramble to run to the store and buy one, and this being my life probably during a day I'm actually supposed to travel somewhere or otherwise don't really have time for *any* of this.
It would also have allowed for full waterproofing. (still thinking about pets, would've been nice. Now holding out for waterproof cases).
The chip on Loiss Rossman's shoulder got one tiny AirTags size / weight smaller / lighter about Apple...
So the Tile can locate your phone if you press the tile, can the airtags to a "reverse" find as well?
Missed opportunity to make the air tag capable of being depressed to cause the nearest iDevice to make an audible tone, who else has lost their phone?
Cheers to Apple for having a user replaceable battery for this thing. And one that's pretty ubiquitous. Not some spay-shell Apple-type proprietary battery. Will probably pick up a 4 pack. One for key fob, one for work keys, one to attach to work lanyard/ID (I misplace that one a lot) and probably one for my TV remote.
Also will wait for some cheaper holders for them as well.
I do wonder that even though these do alert someone being tracked, that there will be suspicious spouses who will try to use it for that purpose anyway....lol.
Also will wait for some cheaper holders for them as well.
I do wonder that even though these do alert someone being tracked, that there will be suspicious spouses who will try to use it for that purpose anyway....lol.
Ok. so Questions!
1. IF i stick this in my car under the seat (to track it in case it gets stolen), but while it is not stolen and sitting on my driveway and i walk away (to the store, or inside the house, or to friends). will it start constantly beeping and letting me know I am away from my TAG? Can i turn off the notification if im inside friends house (but then it destroys the point of tracking it). CONFUSED!
2. IF i attach one to my wallet, one to my purse, one to my accessory and leave all that at home and go outside for a walk with my phone... will it start beeping letting me know i am away??? or it does not beep, just tells me where it is ONLY WHEN I TURN ON FINDMYIPHONE?
1. IF i stick this in my car under the seat (to track it in case it gets stolen), but while it is not stolen and sitting on my driveway and i walk away (to the store, or inside the house, or to friends). will it start constantly beeping and letting me know I am away from my TAG? Can i turn off the notification if im inside friends house (but then it destroys the point of tracking it). CONFUSED!
2. IF i attach one to my wallet, one to my purse, one to my accessory and leave all that at home and go outside for a walk with my phone... will it start beeping letting me know i am away??? or it does not beep, just tells me where it is ONLY WHEN I TURN ON FINDMYIPHONE?
You guys are missing the point. The AirTags are always on. What do you think the life cycle would be of a rechargeable battery the size of a CR2032? AirPods aren't always on and go into a case yet there's threads of people complaining about the longevity of the AirPods. Even if the AirPods were always on, what is that battery life? A couple of hours?
If the AirTags were rechargeable, you'd be buying them every two years then complaining Apple is supporting planned obsolescence.
A rechargeable battery doesn't even make sense for the engineering/use requirements of the AirTags. They're going to sell millions of these. Apple knows this and is further evident by the fact they're already including a purchasable 4-pack.
The average person is not going to want to recharge 4-8 AirTags every couple months in lieu of replacing a set of batteries every year. That's annoying and misses the entire purpose and use case of this type of tracker. This isn't a watch or a set of headphones, Apple is planning on people buying these by the dozen.
There are 100s of examples why in this case, a replaceable battery is better. I wouldn't be surprised if these number in the billions in a couple of years. Imagine going to the Apple store because 3 of your trackers are dead and wanting a replacement instead of just...replacing a battery you can get at any grocery store, CVS/Walgreens, Amazon, etc.. a year at a time.
i think you’re missing the basic physics that if a replaceable battery lasts 1 year, then a similar sizes rechargeable battery would last a similar length, the life of a battery is impacted by cycles and this wouldn’t have high cycles.
You mention these things could be in the billions, this is my point, apple is so eco friendly on one hand but willing to generate billions of throw away batteries every year. The ideal solution is to have rechargeable batteries that can easily be replace by apple.
Some Airlines will not permit rechargeable batteries in luggage regardless of what the rules say.
Also, if it was non-removable someone upon being "tagged" would not be able to simply remove the battery.
Rechargeable also presents issues of size, as they would need to include charging circuitry and coils.
that's like saying "iPhones should just use 2 double AA batteries because not every iPhone comes with a charger."
It's nothing like that unless your charger cost almost double the price of an iPhone.