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It's Possible to Drill a Hole Through an AirTag
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Looks really rugged, too. I’m expecting they’re at LEAST as durable as Apple and third party and 3d printed solutions. Otherwise why even pos… ohhhh, this is social media, it doesn’t HAVE to make sense
i think apple is so adamant about having their products *look* different that the compromise they were willing to make included omitting an elementary function of every other item tracker.
granted, my immediate experience with airtag is substantially better than tile.
I'd buy holders like these without the loop but with a solid back with peel off stickum, for affixing to items like AirPod cases, drones, wallets and purses, digital cameras, cars--anything i want to track without airtags dangling on a dongle or bouncing around loose. I'm amazed apple didn't make the airtags with flat backs and tape included in the box.
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The goal of the hole is to help/assist you in attaching your Airtags, so I would call it more an Assistant Hole, or Ass*hole for short.
I thought you were referring to fobs, period. Obviously what I posted was just examples.
Well fair enough but not for me, I guess it's how you use it. But I think you should be able to put a phone in your pocket without it slipping out every few minutes because of it's texture. I mean it even slipped out of tim cook's pocket just after they announced it i remember. I've never had any product so slippery on soft surfaces/materials like the X is.
I have an X. Gave it to my tween daughter last year after I was done with it. Neither of us ever dropped it or had it fall out of a pocket.
I read that Tile had patented the hole which is why Apple could not include a hole in the AirTag. Samsung licensed the hole for their Smart Tag and SmartTag+ so they were able to use this patented feature. But the Galaxy SmartTag+ is also 33% more expensive than the AirTag ($40 versus $30) so that hole comes at a significant cost.
Fortunately, the ADDT (Apple Dongle Design Team) has come up with AirTag accessories that include a way to attach the AirTag to things like keyrings or luggage tags.
Originally, Apple was going to just license the hole form Tile but the ADDT objected because doing so would partition them out of the AirTag ecosystem. Hermes also objected because they wanted to sell $400+ holders for the AirTag.
You can already order after-market AirTag holders from AliExpress for $1.82, with free shipping. Search for 1005002546639827 on AliExpress.
Fortunately, the ADDT (Apple Dongle Design Team) has come up with AirTag accessories that include a way to attach the AirTag to things like keyrings or luggage tags.
Originally, Apple was going to just license the hole form Tile but the ADDT objected because doing so would partition them out of the AirTag ecosystem. Hermes also objected because they wanted to sell $400+ holders for the AirTag.
You can already order after-market AirTag holders from AliExpress for $1.82, with free shipping. Search for 1005002546639827 on AliExpress.
I heard that Apple DID get a license, but unfortunately, they were only allowed to get a license that covered accessories. Apparently Tile’s REALLY protective of their hole.
I don't think Tile has a patent on the idea of hole in a tracker. They do have patents on their designs (design patents), but design patents are infringed only when the entire design matches. So changing the shape, the location of the hole, etc. would be fine. Example Tile patents:
https://patents.google.com/patent/USD748507S1/en?assignee="tile,+inc"&oq="tile,+inc" (has a hole)
https://patents.google.com/patent/USD819469S1/en?assignee="tile,+inc"&oq="tile,+inc" (no hole)
I'm not finding any utility patents that cover the idea of holes.