Precision Finding on Apple Watch Doesn't Work With the Original AirTag

[MacRumors]

A new Apple support document and our own testing has confirmed that Precision Finding on the Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later works with the AirTag 2, but the original AirTag is not supported.

Apple has not indicated why this feature does not work with the original AirTag. However, the new AirTag is equipped with Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, while the original has Apple's first-generation Ultra Wideband chip.

Precision Finding can lead you to the exact location of an item with an AirTag attached to it, by showing you a directional arrow and your distance away from the item on a compatible iPhone, and now on a compatible Apple Watch too.

Precision Finding already existed on the above Apple Watch models for finding an iPhone 15 or newer, but there was no Precision Finding on the Apple Watch for finding an AirTag until now. As we confirmed, however, Precision Finding on the Apple Watch still does not work with the first-generation AirTag released in 2021.

To use Precision Finding to find a second-generation AirTag with a compatible Apple Watch, the watch must be running watchOS 26.2.1 or later.

How to set up the feature, according to Apple:

1. On your Apple Watch, go to Control Center.
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Edit.
3. Tap the Add button.
4. Scroll down to Find Items.
5. Tap Find Items, then tap Find AirTag.
6. Tap Choose, then choose an item.
7. Tap the Done button, then tap Done.

How to use the feature, according to Apple:

1. On your Apple Watch, go to Control Center.
2. Scroll down and tap the Find AirTag button.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions and move around your space until your Apple Watch connects to your AirTag.
4. Follow the distance and direction information on your Apple Watch. When you are close to your AirTag, the watch screen turns green.

If you have an original AirTag, you can still find it with Precision Finding on an iPhone 11 or newer.

With the AirTag 2, Precision Finding works at distances up to 1.5× farther away from an item compared to the original AirTag, but this longer range requires an iPhone 15 or newer, Apple Watch Series 9 or newer, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or newer.

To learn more about the new AirTag, read our coverage of Apple's announcement.

Article Link: Precision Finding on Apple Watch Doesn't Work With the Original AirTag

 

[nuff_said]

I wish I could say, if not a bug, I’m shocked. /s
But I’m not and you shouldn’t be either

 

[christian.terra]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone? I can't think of a scenario where you'd only have your watch unless you lose BOTH your airtagged item and phone.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Abysmal... They need to issue a recall!

 

[bozzykid]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone?

Your watch is on your actual wrist and with you at all times. That's like saying, "Why use an Apple Watch? Your phone tells the time."

 

[Slix]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone? I can't think of a scenario where you'd only have your watch unless you lose BOTH your airtagged item and phone.

Not everyone has an iPhone with an Ultra Wideband chip in it but many have an Apple Watch with it.

 

[TFrank2]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone? I can't think of a scenario where you'd only have your watch unless you lose BOTH your airtagged item and phone.

I’ve run into this scenario many times. Kids take the phone and I’m scrambling to find my AirTagged keys. HomePod is hit or miss so having the ability to use my Watch would be a plus with all our existing tagged items.

 

[christian.terra]

Your watch is on your actual wrist and with you at all times. That's like saying, "Why use an Apple Watch? Your phone tells the time."

Not everyone has an iPhone with an Ultra Wideband chip in it but many have an Apple Watch with it.

I’ve run into this scenario many times. Kids take the phone and I’m scrambling to find my AirTagged keys. HomePod is hit or miss so having the ability to use my Watch would be a plus with all our existing tagged items.

All good points - i guess since we never had the functionality, it seems strange to me.

 

[hagjohn]

Probably because of the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, is more precise.

 

[StuBeck]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone? I can't think of a scenario where you'd only have your watch unless you lose BOTH your airtagged item and phone.

I tend to walk around my house and not have my phone on me. Its a lot harder for me to take my watch off of my body.

This situation doesn't apply to me, but thats one reason why this would occur.

This also isn't a surprise based on the essentially sole improvement in the AT2 to have the precise finding option available.

 

[deeddawg]

can someone explain why you'd use your watch and not your phone? I can't think of a scenario where you'd only have your watch unless you lose BOTH your airtagged item and phone.

Not everyone carries their phone everywhere.

Let's say my phone's upstairs and I'm trying to find my Siri Remote. Using my watch saves going to get my phone.

 

[WilliApple]

Whats the point of the U1 chip inside of the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8, Ultra 1 then
Yes I know they will all be dropped next at the same time but still

 

[sentiblue]

I can't tell if the airtags I have are older generation... but they don't tell location very well. There's one in each of my kid's backpack. They often report location on the other side of the street from school, inside a resident's home. When I saw it the first time I was scared to death. I immediately went to school and asked to see my kid and she was safe. I just have to live with the fact that Find My will often give me the wrong location, up to quarter mile.

 

[deeddawg]

I can't tell if the airtags I have are older generation... but they don't tell location very well. There's one in each of my kid's backpack. They often report location on the other side of the street from school, inside a resident's home. When I saw it the first time I was scared to death. I immediately went to school and asked to see my kid and she was safe. I just have to live with the fact that Find My will often give me the wrong location, up to quarter mile.

If you bought them before yesterday, they're the 1st generation.

Many people don't understand how AirTags work. They don't have a gps chip. They don't know their location.

When an Apple device "hears" an AirTag's signal, it reports that to the Find My servers along with the location of the phone or ipad or other device - not the location of the AirTag.

And for even more fun, there can be a lag time between the phone or whatever detecting the AirTage and making its report - so if it's in a car it might report a location down the street from the AirTag.

This is why they're not intended for tracking people (even consenualy), and certainly not in real-time. You chose the wrong tool for the job. Get an Apple Watch for your kids.

The 2nd generation won't be any more accurate - and given a longer range at which Apple devices can "hear" them, the location error may be even greater in some circumstances.

 

[DribbleCastle]

I’ve run into this scenario many times. Kids take the phone and I’m scrambling to find my AirTagged keys. HomePod is hit or miss so having the ability to use my Watch would be a plus with all our existing tagged items.

You are getting ready to leave the house (looking for your keys), but your kids have your phone for some reason? I'm assuming you are leaving the house? Regardless, sounds like the new Airtags have a benefit for you.

Not everyone carries their phone everywhere.

Let's say my phone's upstairs and I'm trying to find my Siri Remote. Using my watch saves going to get my phone.

This would be a usecase in our house for my wife. However, she wouldn't think or want to use it; instead, she'd find it the old-fashioned way. 👀

 

[DribbleCastle]

If you bought them before yesterday, they're the 1st generation.

Many people don't understand how AirTags work. They don't have a gps chip. They don't know their location.

When an Apple device "hears" an AirTag's signal, it reports that to the Find My servers along with the location of the phone or ipad or other device - not the location of the AirTag.

And for even more fun, there can be a lag time between the phone or whatever detecting the AirTage and making its report - so if it's in a car it might report a location down the street from the AirTag.

This is why they're not intended for tracking people (even consenualy), and certainly not in real-time. You chose the wrong tool for the job. Get an Apple Watch for your kids.

The 2nd generation won't be any more accurate - and given a longer range at which Apple devices can "hear" them, the location error may be even greater in some circumstances.

Great explanation, but it also kinda blows my mind that someone on a Macrumors forum post would have almost no idea how an AirTag works. I figure the people who would post on this specific Airtag/watch software post would be the people who cared the most about the details. I guess it's a bigger community than I thought.

 

[itfmac]

I got my second gen today, they're also running a new 3.0 firmware so the current ones aren't running the same software.

 

[TFrank2]

You are getting ready to leave the house (looking for your keys), but your kids have your phone for some reason? I'm assuming you are leaving the house? Regardless, sounds like the new Airtags have a benefit for you.

Yep, I’m sure some other parents with multiple small kids on here have had a similar experience. One will snag it to watch YouTube Kids or the like as we’re trying to leave the house and it’s a race to find who has what and where amidst the chaos.

 

[t0rqx]

Classic. Airpods ANC downgrade move on the Airtag.

 

[deeddawg]

Classic. Airpods ANC downgrade move on the Airtag.

What's downgraded?

Apple Watch didn't previously perform precision finding of AirTags*, though phones could do so.

* to the best of my knowledge, and a bit of searching seems to confirm this

 

[svish]

Not sure whether there is any relation between the new chip and software compatibility issues. However not surprised. It might be also that Apple wants customers to buy the newer version of AirTag.

 

[xpxp2002]

Not sure whether there is any relation between the new chip and software compatibility issues. However not surprised. It might be also that Apple wants customers to buy the newer version of AirTag.

Locking new software features behind hardware upgrades has been Apple's M-O forever.

Remember when pre-M1 iPads couldn't handle Stage Manager...until they could?

It's quite difficult to believe that the Apple Watch S9 and newer SoC that has the U2 UWB chip can work with second-generation AirTags with a simple software update, but that it can't be made to work with first-generation AirTags even though both have a UWB chip, 1st gen AirTag Precision Find My works with iPhones that only have a U1 chip, and the Watch and AirTag can receive firmware updates over the air.

 

[iMacDragon]

I would guess the reason is that the multiple antennas needed for price location probably weren't sensitive enough to work as finder in watch within the constrained space, only as beacon, in the v1 hardware. As the way UWB locates direction is by difference in signal reception between multiple antennas to triangulate.

 

[deeddawg]

I would guess the reason is that the multiple antennas needed for price location probably weren't sensitive enough to work as finder in watch within the constrained space, only as beacon, in the v1 hardware. As the way UWB locates direction is by difference in signal reception between multiple antennas to triangulate.

Not a bad explanation, but wouldn't the triangulation occur using the receiving device's antennae (i.e. the watch)?

It is also curious that my watch can precision find my phone, and my phone can precision find my AirTag1, but my watch can't.

 

[iMacDragon]

Not a bad explanation, but wouldn't the triangulation occur using the receiving device's antennae (i.e. the watch)?

It is also curious that my watch can precision find my phone, and my phone can precision find my AirTag1, but my watch can't.

Hm, good point actually, I forgot that watch can indeed precision find phone nowadays - so yeah, resumes being a bit murky on whether it's just artificial seperation without a good explanation.

Though, potentially, the phone could be reverse triangulating and telling the watch where the watch is in relation to it.