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Apple's AirTags Rumored for October Launch: Here's What to Expect

CausticSoda said:
Fair enough. Missing the ZX-81 as well, of course... I appreciate that a game-changer like the first iPhone is a rare beast indeed, but it is annoying how friends in the dreaded Samsung crowd keep showing off phones with better specs than mine, bought at roughly the same time. Recently, in a conference room, a colleague plugged his Samsung into a large display direct via USB C (I think), and it was recognised instantly and optimised to work with that display. It looked great. My iPhone would need a dongle and even then would probably not work seamlessly in the way his did. Why? Why are Apple not leading on this sort of thing? It really irritates me to be honest. Yes I know Apple is better for a variety of other reasons, but could they not at least trump the likes of Samsung on specs with each release, and be ahead of the game on connectivity etc?
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Fair enough. ;)

Yeah I get that. It may be a matter of how Apple sees their devices being used. I don't think the phones are geared towards presentation graphics where an iPad might. My guesses, of course. I still think Apple is ahead with the "it just works" factor.
 
Scipster said:
A user replaceable, rechargeable battery would be great!

I love the concept of Airtags, but it will be a tough sell against the Tile Slim if the actual device is as thick as the concept designs. I hope they have something small and slim to fit in my bag or wallet.
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Apple could probably make them thinner with a custom LiIon battery. The article mentioned making them compatible with the Watch charger. That would be cool.
 
I am also hoping that this will at least have a small hole, but I could also see Apple using this as an opportunity to sell us a ton of silicone/leather/woven accessories that these would slip into (similar to Apple Watch bands), for $30 a piece. And I have to admit (being a tile user), I will buy all of it. Apple is going to sell millions of these.
 
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ok, if these need to be charged on a regular basis, this will be a very dumb product. if you stick this on your bag(for example), then lose it and realize your batter died last week... this product would be more of a piss off than a helpful tool.
 
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jlocker said:
Yoda Mann said:
Honestly, how many people loose their 💩 on a routine basis? Or they can’t keep track of their 💩? I just don’t get this item, unless you’re welding this to your 5 year old. I know most people are the walking unconscious, but I so don’t understand the utility of such a product.
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How many bicycles, motorcycles, jet ski's, trailers, snowmobiles, boats get stolen every year? People steal stuff :)
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And people loose stuff.

Maybe not Yoda Mann. Good for him.

I've spent literal weeks looking for displaced usb sticks with important data before that I displaced somewhere within my home (or work place? or car? or school? or lost somewhere in between?) wishing desperately I had attached some sort of tracker on them.

Some people have pets that hide things.

Some people have pets they'd like to attach a tracker to.

Plenty of applications for plenty of people. Not only for 5 year olds.
 
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You're all thinking the usual rechargeable or removable batteries.... What if these have solar charging?
Especially if they charge via any light source.
 
If there isn't a "left behind" feature with the AirTags, I'm going to be very disappointed. I don't lose my keys in the couch cushion, etc. What is useful is knowing that when I leave a place (be it home, or a client office, etc.) that I've left something important behind. So instead of leaving a client and getting home, only to discover I left my backpack there, it would be nice to know before I get in my car at the clients office to leave (or some measured distance like 500ft, or a threshold you can set).

I think that is a very important and useful feature and I don't think the Tile device does that (does it?).
 
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Ankaa said:
And people loose stuff.

Maybe not Yoda Mann. Good for him.

I've spent literal weeks looking for displaced usb sticks with important data before that I displaced somewhere within my home (or work place? or car? or school? or lost somewhere in between?) wishing desperately I had attached some sort of tracker on them.

Some people have pets that hide things.

Some people have pets they'd like to attach a tracker to.

Plenty of applications for plenty of people. Not only for 5 year olds.
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Yes, I can not remember how many neighbors have lost cat and dogs. I had a cat and a long time ago and on moving day he got into the hall or our apartment, got scared and ran threw a low plane of glass. We never found him. It would have been nice to have a tag on him to hunt him down and help him.
 
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My bet is that you will be able to charge them by sticking them magnetically for a couple of minutes to the back of an iPhone 12.
 
The tag reminds me of the star trek emblem badges that would like the star ship could use to find it's crew. Tag 4.0 could have two-way communication some day so if people get trapped in a tall building they could be found by the fire departments faster. Saving their lives and fire fighters live also. :) They use Bluetooth now but someday could use WIFI and Cellular for the network connections.
 
There better be a good and easy way to tether these to other objects or else they will not be much of a use for me.
 
If there is anyone who can convince me to purchase something I have absolutely zero interest in, nor budget for, it's this company. That is maybe Apple's most underrated ability. They're reeeeally good at that (obviously).

Guessing a $49.99 price point. Higher would not be out of the question. Lower would be surprising.
 
santaliqueur said:
How is this different than iBeacon?
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Setting aside anything about radio frequency, etc....

iBeacons are (or used to be) point-to-point. They may have layered on top of mesh connectivity - I no longer track this area - but even if they do, the connectivity has to be there between the beacon and the receiver. The AirTags are very low power, are "noticed" by some other device with more capabilities (like an iPhone), who then extracts the information and sends it securely around. The real differentiators for this is that a very cheap (cost and power) can provide identification that will spread through all the iDevices.

In that use case the AirTag can track an object. or a kid. Or an adult that got lost.

Add the ultra-sideband, and you can quickly find the lost object, not just know that you are close to it, but that you where it is.
 
Theyayarealivin said:
The most controversial yet impressive product Apple may release. Month of October can’t come soon enough🤥
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this is such a single use product that only a few of their customers would even edit from. There are so many others in this product category that have entrenched proliferation, I don’t see how Apple can improve on this category as well as it’s not a problem to be solved.

not all their customers are children whom loose their keys, we already have methods for finding iPhone iPad laptops - that could be better improved without “AirTags”.

I don’t believe this is a product Apple will release yet if they do I think an excited initial spike of salesfor 3mths then drop into being more forgotten or ignored than the HomePod, imho.
 
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I am very much looking forward to these. No need to install another app or create another account with some other company. Just use Find My and off we go. Matte finish on these would be nice I am a bit over glossy white.
 
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