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Apple Announces AirTag Tracking Devices Starting At $29 Each
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Our daughter's cat likes to sit out on our deck. We leave the door cracked and check on her periodically. TODAY, I closed the door. Instead of running off, she came to the door and started meowing. Daughter doesn't know... I will now get one of these!
My guess is yes, like the iPod shuffle, AirPods, and other small tech from Apple. They'll seal it up to keep them small and pretty but it won't last forever. Hopefully it will last a while though, and I'm sure they'll let us know when it's time to buy more.
I did see in the presentation. Easy to switch battery, so i guess not rechargebal
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These have a user replaceable battery. Showed such right in their slides. It's just a button-cell.
Crap - just seen this on the Apple site - so it won't work for car theft as it will let the thief know the car has an Airtag (assuming they have an iPhone I guess):
"AirTag is designed to discourage unwanted tracking. If someone else’s AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice it’s travelling with you and send you an alert. After a while, if you still haven’t found it, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know it’s there."
Serious question: Do people lose their keys that much that you need to spend $29 on a device to keep track of them? Is this like a tax for careless people?
Product page is up.
"How does it work?
Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And itʼs efficient, so thereʼs no need to worry about battery life or data usage."
Well that answers that! LOL
Edit: OK this isn't bad.
"Long live the battery.
AirTag is designed to keep going more than a year on a standard battery you can easily replace. And your iPhone lets you know when itʼs time to pop in a new one."
So $30 per year per tag effectively. The battery will last about 12 months.
Edit - Yeah, I got it. Read on one article there was no replaceable battery, but there is.
Edit - Yeah, I got it. Read on one article there was no replaceable battery, but there is.
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No info about charging or batteries listed on Apple Store ..... very strange they wouldn't mention this.
Battery life of more than a year and it's also user replaceable standard button-cell.
Tile is going down. If they were a public company, their stock would be taking a crap. As it is, their value likely just dropped very significantly.
Tile is going down. If they were a public company, their stock would be taking a crap. As it is, their value likely just dropped very significantly.
A service that people pay Apple for every single month and that doesn't cost them much more money if 5 people subscribe vs 500, so it's basically free money for each extra subscriber.... didn't get as much time as a small device that doesn't make Apple much money and is a one-time purchase? That's surprising.....
According to the Apple store web page, it is a Replaceable battery with about a 1 year life
All very nice if there is decent cell reception. My dog liked to go on his own in a nearby forrest with zero reception so the $50 device + $10 subscription turned out useless...
Wonder though what the real-world range is between an iPhone 12 Pro and AirTag. The range will definitely be not enough to track but maybe good enough for geo-fencing. If it can make my watch vibrate whenever my dog decides to leave the silently agreed upon 'stay close' zone, I'll definitely give it a try!
"AirTag is also designed with a set of proactive features that discourage unwanted tracking, an industry first. Bluetooth signal identifiers transmitted by AirTag rotate frequently to prevent unwanted location tracking. iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time. And even if users don’t have an iOS device, an AirTag separated from its owner for an extended period of time will play a sound when moved to draw attention to it. If a user detects an unknown AirTag, they can tap it with their iPhone or NFC-capable device and instructions will guide them to disable the unknown AirTag."
So just in case the thief doesn't have an iPhone he'll still be alerted your stolen item is being tracked. Brilliant Apple, absolutely brilliant
So just in case the thief doesn't have an iPhone he'll still be alerted your stolen item is being tracked. Brilliant Apple, absolutely brilliant
Tiles piggy back of ANY Bluetooth signal in range, I lost some tiles in 2019 back in Disneyland’s that I used for my kids and to this day you can see their respective locations all over California, when I am in Texas!!