Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

[MacRumors]

Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.

Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the TimeCapsule, which provides power instead of the coin cell battery.

The enclosure then screws shut, and it can be tucked away in a vehicle, luggage, camera bag, or other expensive item. The case has IP69 waterproofing that's able to withstand exposure to water and dust in harsh environments, so it can be used outdoors.

TimeCapsule does add additional weight and size to the AirTag because it needs to house AA batteries, but it's still slim enough to fit well in bags without adding too much bulk. The setup measures in at 4.45 inches by 1.57 inches, and it's 0.75 inches thick. The enclosure is nondescript, though, so if something containing the TimeCapsule is stolen, the thief isn't likely to know what it is.

The TimeCapsule can be purchased for $20 from the Elevation Lab website or from Amazon.

Article Link: Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

 

[Valen1]

Not with Energizer batteries. They leak and the warranty is garbage.

 

[NJRonbo]

Isn't the point of Airtags that it's small and easy to attach to keyrings, luggage, and the like?

Why would you need to add an enormous case like that? I can only see a few uses where it would be perhaps a good idea. One would be for vehicle tracking.

 

[exodiusprime]

That's actually a really great idea!! 👏

 

[techno-Zen]

That's cool, but lets just charge the next AirTag on an Apple Watch charger

 

[jarman92]

Or one could just change the regular battery once every year.

 

[poematik13]

This might actually disrupt the asset tracking market, because usually you pay $50 for the tracker that is rectangular like that, and then its $20/month for a data plan to use it, and its through a clunky 2000's era web portal UI, and the battery life is usually in weeks, not years.

Only issue of course, is airtags are inherently useless for asset tracking because it beeps loudly when it doesnt see your phone for more than 3 days. For professional use (delivery vans, equipment rental, etc) it won't work

 

[Rigby]

Not with Energizer batteries. They leak and the warranty is garbage.

If you look closely these are lithium batteries. They don't leak (not even the ones from Energizer ).

 

[falkon-engine]

AA batteries sometimes leak out after a very extended period

 

[voxson]

I wonder if that muffles the sound. That would be a "feature" the bad guys want.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I think this is brilliant! It wouldn't work for every use case, but in a car? a backpack? gear bag? laptop case? luggage?

 

[spaxxedout]

This might actually disrupt the asset tracking market, because usually you pay $50 for the tracker that is rectangular like that, and then its $20/month for a data plan to use it, and its through a clunky 2000's era web portal UI, and the battery life is usually in weeks, not years.

Only issue of course, is airtags are inherently useless for asset tracking because it beeps loudly when it doesnt see your phone for more than 3 days. For professional use (delivery vans, equipment rental, etc) it won't work

I did see a service once that modified the AirTags to disable the speaker, but that raised a lot of eyebrows on privacy tracking.

I think there's room for dedicated asset trackers that leverage the find my network. We'll have to see!

 

[spaxxedout]

Or one could just change the regular battery once every year.

I love how Apple's notoriously hard to deal with on repairability / longevity on literally every other product than the AirTag. It's really a well thought-out device.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I think if they are sealed up that tight, It probably wouldn't cause problems

 

[Henry S]

If you look closely these are lithium batteries. They don't leak (not even the ones from Energizer ).

They're the ones I had to get for my Nest smoke detector, they lasted 5+ years in that.

 

[jz0309]

That’s actually pretty cool if one is ok with the added dimensions and weight

 

[Bearygoodfries1]

I can see this being useful for bigger objects like vehicles, large machines, etc.

 

[contacos]

am I dense or why do these use replaceable batteries anyway? would be much more convenient to just wireless charge them for example. No need to open them up, which is getting harder and harder with how they age.

 

[gsmornot]

Pretty cool idea. I have a few in waterproof cases that go on a keychain. In the case you get about 50% of the sound you get out of the case. I wonder, with this being even thicker, would you hear it beep.

 

[LogicalApex]

Isn't the point of Airtags that it's small and easy to attach to keyrings, luggage, and the like?

Why would you need to add an enormous case like that? I can only see a few uses where it would be perhaps a good idea. One would be for vehicle tracking.

This extends the AirTags to use cases where the longer battery life is more important than the portability. It looks like a great product.

The AirTag design doesn't change so people who don't need the extra runtime that this affords don't have to use this product.

 

[blcamp]

I'd much rather have the battery life last longer (in my experience, a 2032 lasts about a year), or let us plug in a USB-C cable, much like for an Apple TV remote.

 

[poematik13]

I did see a service once that modified the AirTags to disable the speaker, but that raised a lot of eyebrows on privacy tracking.

I think there's room for dedicated asset trackers that leverage the find my network. We'll have to see!

Apple can easily take this over by making a "Find My for business" as part of their business essentials subscription and make like an MDM for airtags

 

[Macusercom]

It's a great idea but you should be aware that AA batteries discharge over time so 14x is probably not realistic. I assume they will last approx. 3-5 years max

 

[MrGimper]

This is a great idea.... and just like the AirTags themselves, people are missing the actual design purpose of it.

The point is not to have to change the battery or charge it, for scenarios where you may not want to have to for a very long time.

And someone said they can't see a use, maybe for a vehicle ... that's a use case identified in the original post for the product.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Not with Energizer batteries. They leak and the warranty is garbage.

Not so with the more expensive lithium version they offer. Btw, that would be Duracell that loves to leak.