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iFixit Shares AirTag Teardown Revealing 'Impressively Compact' Design Compared to Tile Mate and Galaxy SmartTag

BvizioN said:
Attention. If they wanted to add functionally they would not bother documenting it and sharing the heck out of it on the internet.
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Because documenting and sharing in case anyone else is interested is out of the question, I guess.

If you browse these forums you’ll find lots of people selflessly helping each other. Pixlas mod comes to mind. But whatever, you’re entitled to your own opinion.
 
Toratek said:
In Japan, average people typically carry ~30-50,000 yen in their wallets. Japan is still a very heavily cash driven economy, and many of my friends in Japan have something approaching the classic Constanza wallets, plus a separate coin wallet.

The Porter folding wallet I carry holds all my cards, cash, and it’s less than 1/2” thick. It sits comfortably in a front pocket. The Airtag completely disappears in there.
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it's really a regional thing. IN Canada in particular, Credit / Debit are the leading payment methods and have far exceeded cash. And this happened a while ago.

we were really on board with Chip and Pin and tap to pay systems years before a lot of the rest of the world. I know I was using Chip+Pin easily 15-20 years ago and was fairly standard. And Tap came in as standard probably 10 years ago. Accorrding to polling/census information. Less than 1/3rd of all Transactions in Canada use Cash. And I wouldn't be surprised if that number was even lower in 2020 due to Covid.

my Wallet is barely the thickness of my iPhone. There's no way this tracker is fitting in comfrotably.
 
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I'm glad they didn't include a key ring hole. As we can all see, to make it sturdy enough the entire diameter of the device would need to increase. That's not the only point though, there will be many people who just use 1 AirTag and put it on different items frequently depending on what they want to keep track of on any given day. Metal key rings are an absolute pain to deal with constantly, especially if you have shorter nails, even if you have longer ones they'll likely break.

Apple will not make more money from AirTag holders than all the random perfectly good budget options from Amazon and especially eBay. Plenty will be available for around $5 and people will flock to them.
 
LDN said:
I'm glad they didn't include a key ring hole. As we can all see, to make it sturdy enough the entire diameter of the device would need to increase. That's not the only point though, there will be many people who just use 1 AirTag and put it on different items frequently depending on what they want to keep track of on any given day. Metal key rings are an absolute pain to deal with constantly, especially if you have shorter nails, even if you have longer ones they'll likely break.

Apple will not make more money from AirTag holders than all the random perfectly good budget options from Amazon and especially eBay. Plenty will be available for around $5 and people will flock to them.
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With these things having UWB, I’m still convinced that there will be a use case where they will slot into holders that attach to the body to allow for a more accurate motion tracking than is currently possible with the 3D cameras. There’s a reason for them to be as small and light as possible :)
 
TotalMacMove said:
I noticed these have a firmware, i wonder if they will be able to push new features/updates to this first generation of the airtags. If not, I’m thinkinf the second gen airtags will be much better in terms of range and possibly reverse tracking.
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Apple's AirPods Pro have firmware, and Apple pushed out updates for those through iPhones and iPads when they are connected via bluetooth. Maybe these will update the same way?
 
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I have been using different Tile models since I support them in a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign way back in 2013. With all the Tiles I own, I have never once used the keyhole in the device.

If I move to AirTags, I will not need the "turning essential functions into premium, add-on accessories."
 
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Rafterman said:
So Apple is responsible for how small and thin everything is? Or more likely, that's just the march of technology over time. EVERYTHING got smaller and thinner.
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This exact thread shows how Apple product is even more compact than their competitors
 
dcassone said:
I have been using different Tile models since I support them in a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign way back in 2013. With all the Tiles I own, I have never once used the keyhole in the device.

If I move to AirTags, I will not need the "turning essential functions into premium, add-on accessories."
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how do you attach the Tiles to your items?
Do you have any criticism on Tiles?
 
Made to track things not people....
SO... when someone steals your backpack, or what ever you have this thing on, they will not only be alerted on the phone that they are being tracked, they will also get instructions on how to disable it :p
 
LordVic said:
Too thick for mine. I have a slim minimalist wallet. it is NOT easier to fit into a wallet unless you're already used to carrying around a somewhat thicker wallet.

Its not even a ridgewallet or hard walet. it's a soft one. but it's a single folder that can hold about 4 cards and 1 piece of ID.

I only carry it because I legally have to carry around my drivers license, health card and insurance.

Trust me. the moment I no longer have a reason to carry a wallet, I'm not. I'm fully on board the digital wallet hype train. regional governments are just not their yet. until then. people need a wallet of some sort. and these are too thick to fit into any that are not already "thick".

sure, I could "FIT" it into my wallet. But that would add thickness to it that I'm not prepared to do.
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Well, if you're using a slim wallet, shoving in the wallet is a non-starter.

I've been giving this some more thought.

I will get crap for this, but I was just thinking--I might throw down a nice chunk of change on a leather branded Apple wallet that could hold an AirTag on the outside (sort of like setting it in an imprint).
 
cmaier said:
Absolutely. I keep a single $20 bill for emergencies, a credit card, health insurance card, the RFID card i need to get into my office, and an ATM card. I’d love to get rid of some of those cards, but i find i still need them from time-to-time.
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For business purposes, I do require multiple credit cards and receipts are a must.

Our Chase Ink firm account does not offer Apple Pay (or it didn't last time I checked). I think the other card is also a non-Apple Pay card.

If I were super disciplined, I would scan every receipt immediately.

But when you are dining out with clients and pick up the tab (which is ALWAYS), you look like a tool sitting there in a semi dark restaurant or bar scanning a receipt when your focus should be on the client.

So I absolutely envy everyone who can get away with being minimalist.
 
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IllinoisCorn said:
For business purposes, I do require multiple credit cards and receipts are a must.

Our Chase Ink firm account does not offer Apple Pay (or it didn't last time I checked). I think the other card is also a non-Apple Pay card.

If I were super disciplined, I would scan every receipt immediately.

But when you are dining out with clients and pick up the tab (which is ALWAYS), you look like a tool sitting there in a semi dark restaurant or bar scanning a receipt when your focus should be on the client.

So I absolutely envy everyone who can get away with being minimalist.
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I shove the receipt in my pocket and then photograph it when i get back to the hotel or wherever my home base is. No need to keep every receipt with you at all times.
 
Rygaard said:
Made to track things not people....
SO... when someone steals your backpack, or what ever you have this thing on, they will not only be alerted on the phone that they are being tracked, they will also get instructions on how to disable it :p
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They will not be alerted right away. Only after a while or (so the documentation suggests) after they arrive at their home location. In which case you still can discover the last known location of your "thing", ie the place where your tracker was disabled.
Apple obviously needs to find a middle ground here between being an accessory to stalkers and helping people find their stuff. And afaik they are not even claiming AirTags are good to recover stolen goods, but to find lost or misplaced items.
 
RecentlyConverted said:
I have a business, items get lent to clients. If I can recover items lost by clients, I can save upsetting them by not billing them for their loss.
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As long as they don't take them home (after which they'll be told they're being tracked) or have them for more than 3 days (after which it'll start beeping).

However, that does sound like a really good use case. They could, for example, be glued/stuck onto the inside of important files which may get lost somewhere in a big office.
 
adrianlondon said:
As long as they don't take them home (after which they'll be told they're being tracked) or have them for more than 3 days (after which it'll start beeping).

However, that does sound like a really good use case. They could, for example, be glued/stuck onto the inside of important files which may get lost somewhere in a big office.
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They will be attached to the items in plain sight, (not hidden), and clients informed. Also, they will be informed that if they take tag off and item is lost they are liable for full retail cost of item, (as well as if I can´t find the item, with the tag on). The bleeping after 3 days may be a PIA though.
 
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RecentlyConverted said:
I have a business, items get lent to clients. If I can recover items lost by clients, I can save upsetting them by not billing them for their loss.
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Good point. Even better if Apple announces at WWDC the Find My program pioneered by VanMoof that inexpensively allows manufacturers to include “Find My” compatible beacons. :)
 
adrianlondon said:
However, that does sound like a really good use case. They could, for example, be glued/stuck onto the inside of important files which may get lost somewhere in a big office.
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Cool, buy a few for the primary paralegal working in an office so they can keep track of the files for the 5 most important clients even as they move from storage room to storage room based on available space. And, when that paralegal leaves, give the phone they’re associated with to the new paralegal :) Even engrave them with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
 
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