Apple's AirTags Revealed in Newly Published Patent Applications

[J___o___h___n]

If there are priced right, I’d buy a dozen ($20 to $30 each). If they’re priced like typical Apple hobbies ($40 or more each) I’ll buy just one, maybe two.
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Price?

1 for 10 $
3 for 25 $
5 for 35 $

Really hope they are. I’d happily stick one to all sorts of things.

 

[SuperCachetes]

Can’t wait for these to get released! I’m definitely going to be buying a few of these

Apple has sold 2 billion iOS devices to create a Bluetooth network so these will definitely work great!

I agree with your first sentence, but these probably won't use BlueTooth. The U1/Ultra Wide Band radio setup is way more accurate in terms of spatial awareness.

Do people really lose so much stuff that this is needed?

You can just skim the article and look at the pretty pictures to see several potential use cases that are not just "I'm absent-minded and lose track of things."

I don't understand, are these like really small? Am I supposed to attach something to my iPad to ensure I don't lose track of it? I really have no idea what the point of these are. If someone stole something of mine, wouldn't they just remove this obvious tag?

So you would make the tag location obvious? Interesting strategy...

 

[MacGekko]

I agree with your first sentence, but these probably won't use BlueTooth. The U1/Ultra Wide Band radio setup is way more accurate in terms of spatial awareness.



You can just skim the article and look at the pretty pictures to see several potential use cases that are not just "I'm absent-minded and lose track of things."



So you would make the tag location obvious? Interesting strategy...

I would never want an anti theft GPS tracker in my car but if you did want one, could you hide this under the seat in your car? The question would be how much battery life would you get under a limited operational mode. If you could get maybe one or two years, at a cheap price point, would this not cut the need for those subscription anti theft GPS devices for your car?

 

[iPrabhu]

It make lot of sense to use watch charger to charge these tags. Don't have to charge daily though.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

You can just skim the article and look at the pretty pictures to see several potential use cases that are not just "I'm absent-minded and lose track of things."

Nooooooo, I’ve got a PERFECT take on all things AirTags that took me all of 7 minutes to think up a couple weeks ago! I’m not going to waste time reading an article for context when I COULD BE POSTIN’!!!

 

[mr_matalino]

Magsafe compatible anyone?

 

[DotCom2]

Magsafe compatible anyone?

That's what I was thinking.

 

[ArPe]

Sean Connery already had this in his shoe in Goldfinger. He had really good reception quality. Never lost a signal ?
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Magsafe compatible anyone?

That was the version in Goldfinger. Magnetically connected to a car he was tracking.

Oh god this can be used for stalking and spying ?

 

[decisions]

So you would make the tag location obvious? Interesting strategy...

Unless they're small enough to fit inside the speaker grill holes (and even then it's likely a paper clip or some other small effort could get them out), I'm not sure you're going to find a place that isn't obvious...

 

[justperry]

"Lost mode" would occur "in response to an unexpected loss of communication between the tag and one or more other devices," allowing the tag to privately route encrypted transmissions through third-party devices to send information to the owner's device. In other words, a lost tag could be silently discovered when another person simply enters its vicinity, allowing the owner to see the tag's location. A different mode could use the same system to report the location and status of tags that have been left at home, for example, via a connection with other devices in the home.

I've been saying this for months ,in related threads.
I gave examples, like you lost an item on the other side of the world, other iPhones could be used as a relay to point where the lost item is.
This feature could potentially sell millions if not 10's/100's millions of these tags, even more so if it is released on Android as well....Opensource....

 

[5105973]

I'm a crap golfer, so I would live these embedded in my gold balls. Spend way less time tracking them down.

You have gold balls?!! 😱

 

[ian87w]

Price?

1 for 10 $
3 for 25 $
5 for 35 $

I'm guessing it would be more like:

1 for $29
5 for $99

 

[pelegri]

If the price is right.... "Hi Siri, where is that Cookbook that has the recipe with tofu and black beans that we really like?"

 

[SuperCachetes]

Unless they're small enough to fit inside the speaker grill holes (and even then it's likely a paper clip or some other small effort could get them out), I'm not sure you're going to find a place that isn't obvious...

Clever. But the post I quoted closed with " If someone stole something of mine, wouldn't they just remove this obvious tag?" Unless you only own an iPad and nothing else, I'm presuming there might be a hiding place in something among that other stuff that would prevent someone from immediately removing an AirTag.

 

[notAnAppleEmployee]

What if AirTags are already in market to some degree?

I can't help but notice that the MagSafe implementation has some overlap between what we expect AirTags to be, and what we see in MagSafe...

 

[jermwhl]

I don't understand, are these like really small? Am I supposed to attach something to my iPad to ensure I don't lose track of it? I really have no idea what the point of these are. If someone stole something of mine, wouldn't they just remove this obvious tag?

Unless they're small enough to fit inside the speaker grill holes (and even then it's likely a paper clip or some other small effort could get them out), I'm not sure you're going to find a place that isn't obvious...

Yes, you don't understand what these are for. Not for attaching to an iPad. Those devices are already trackable. These are for attaching to things like car keys, children backpacks, or other use cases. Its up to anyone's imagination. Just like Tile. A direct competitor to those. It's not an anti-theft device. Just a convenience for things that might be misplaced (car keys) or keeping an eye on minor children's belongings, perhaps. The uniqueness of these is that apple is well positioned to have a network of devices to report a location in the event a device is misplaced, unlike Tile. These devices can anonymously/securely report through any apple device that comes into contact with it. Unlike Tile, which would require someone with a Tile app installed on their device. This capability would presumably be baked directly into iOS and MacOS. Hope that helps.

 

[EatinPonies]

Magsafe compatible anyone?

I'm surprised it took so long for somebody to mention this.

Now, I don't see the need to stick one to the back of my phone, obviously, but couple this with rumors that the MagSafe thing might be able to *charge* devices... That would make this very cool: a quick, decent looking keychain that lasts for a month on a single charge, and then once a month you just rest your keychain on your phone for an hour to get another month out of it... THIS I could see as being very appealing.

 

[rp2011]

it’s safe to say that they will sell a s*** load of these things

 

[retta283]

I would like to know what the battery life on the tags will be.

It'll have to be pretty good or keeping track of multiple will become a major PITA.

 

[Marco Klobas]

It seems way more than a simple object tracker.

The beacon feature to trigger actions (imagine it working with HomeKit) is really interesting.

 

[justperry]

I'm surprised it took so long for somebody to mention this.

Now, I don't see the need to stick one to the back of my phone, obviously, but couple this with rumors that the MagSafe thing might be able to *charge* devices... That would make this very cool: a quick, decent looking keychain that lasts for a month on a single charge, and then once a month you just rest your keychain on your phone for an hour to get another month out of it... THIS I could see as being very appealing.

The battery will most likely last far more than a month, more like a year.

 

[justperry]

MH 370 could have used one. ?

 

[EatinPonies]

The battery will most likely last far more than a month, more like a year.

I'd love that, but I'm not so sure that they will... not if they do all of what is being reported... Apple seems to not too keen on improving battery life anymore. The Apple Watch still needs to be charged daily (the only one on the market that does this), and my keychain scenario still seems pretty reasonable with a once-a-month charge. I'd get it and I don't even lose my keys...

 

[kintoro]

Intrigued but hope it works better then when I need to have my Airpod Pro's play a sound because I cannot find one.

 

[justperry]

I'd love that, but I'm not so sure that they will... not if they do all of what is being reported... Apple seems to not too keen on improving battery life anymore. The Apple Watch still needs to be charged daily (the only one on the market that does this), and my keychain scenario still seems pretty reasonable with a once-a-month charge. I'd get it and I don't even lose my keys...

Similar tags/iot devices lasts for a year or more, these kind of devices use a tiny amount of power.
Rechargeble with a qi charger would be much easier than replacing batteries, hopefully they will be rechargeable.