New AirTag With Three Upgrades is 'Nearly Ready' to Launch

[MacRumors]

Apple's long-rumored AirTag 2 might be coming soon.

In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman briefly mentioned that a new AirTag is "nearly ready" to launch. Last year, he said that it would be released around the middle of 2025, and the midpoint of the year is just a few weeks away.

"The new AirTag is nearly ready, having been prepared for launch over the past several months, but I'd hardly consider that notable and it doesn't make much sense to debut at WWDC," wrote Gurman, in the Q&A section of his newsletter.

Three upgrades have been rumored for the AirTag 2 so far:

• Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, for up to 3× longer tracking range compared to the current AirTag.
• Vision Pro/spatial computing integration.
• A more tamper-proof speaker, to reduce usage of AirTags for stalking.

No major AirTag design changes are expected.

The original AirTag was announced during an Apple Event in April 2021. In the U.S., an individual AirTag costs $29, and a set of four costs $99.

Article Link: New AirTag With Three Upgrades is 'Nearly Ready' to Launch

 

[km_00]

I literally just want to be able to put my AirTag on my Apple watch charger to charge it. The having to buy CR2032 battery every time it dies is super annoying and the reason I only have 2 and never got anymore.

 

[Rychiar]

Explain to me how Vision Pro integration is even a possibility considering the device itself doesn’t have UWB…

 

[smithrh]

A good reminder to buy the ones that can have the speaker removed...

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I literally just want to be able to put my AirTag on my Apple watch charger to charge it. The having to buy CR2032 battery every time it dies is super annoying and the reason I only have 2 and never got anymore.

I completely agree with this.
Somehow, my Apple TV remote, even with its rechargeable battery, lasts like two years on a single charge.
My AirTags usually only last about 8 to 10 months

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

A good reminder to buy the ones that can have the speaker removed...

Uh, no?
Why would you ever want the speaker removed other than very questionable purposes?
This is one of the very few times where I’m actually completely in favor of Apple doing parts pairing. If someone tries to remove a speaker from an AirTag, the thing should become a brick.

 

[kiranmk2]

Well, these updates sound like a good reason it has taken 4 years to bring to market...

 

[Jonas Danielsson]

”more tamper-proof speaker”

Why not just a damn option to disable that anyoing future. Tracking some is already possible so

 

[GetSwole37]

I literally just want to be able to put my AirTag on my Apple watch charger to charge it. The having to buy CR2032 battery every time it dies is super annoying and the reason I only have 2 and never got anymore.

Oh heck no. I have had to replace it once in like 2-3 years. Why would I want to charge it? Plus, it’s so much better to replace the battery than the whole thing. Better for environment too!

 

[AiPone12mini]

Uh, no?
Why would you ever want the speaker removed other than very questionable purposes?
This is one of the very few times where I’m actually completely in favor of Apple doing parts pairing. If someone tries to remove a speaker from an AirTag, the thing should become a brick.

My ebike two airtags both have speakers eradicated, not debatable.

 

[akatsuki]

Concerns about stalking means they are useless for a large use case which is thievery. So there is totally a reason to not want your AirTag to be easily findable. As it is, I have been thinking about switching off of AirTags since that is the use case I care most about.

But given the constraints, what I want is a thinner form factor with a god damn keyhole in it. I shouldn't need a special holder... I had a modded one for my wallet for a while, but it was always a bit flimsy and I gave up on it.

I wouldn't mind a rechargeable battery in there either so long as the battery life is crazy long (like a year).

 

[goonie4life9]

That’s right, folks, the little startup on the bleeding edge that could, Apple, is making the final tweaks to the ALL NEW AirTags! Apple will continue making tweaks until the very last minute but if something doesn’t delight customers, they’ll pull it, for a clear upgrade path and years of profits.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Concerns about stalking means they are useless for a large use case which is thievery.

Thievery, of course, isn't INTENDED to be a use case for AirTags.

But you do you!

 

[mitty]

How about a hole where you can put a keyring or something throughout without having to buy a holder or something? There are numerous cheaper Find My devices on Aliexpress that have this "feature", not to mention the Verbatim tags. Bit silly that the Apple ones don't include such a simple thing.

 

[ZipZilla]

The Apple AirTag is one of the greatest inventions of the Tim Cook era. I use it to track my luggage and also on my keyring because I misplace them sometimes. The ability to locate your luggage when it's lost in the Cairo airport is incredible

 

[JoeSilver]

So, according to some online sources (I couldn't find specific information on Apple's support website) the AirTag alerts of its presence only after having been in proximity of an unknown iPhone (i.e. other than its owner's iPhone and when the owner's iPhone is not also nearby) continuously, for a random, unpredictable amount of time between 8 and 24 hours.

Is that correct?

If that's the case, I don't see why this function is a such a big deal for those who want, improperly, use it to track stolen items.

You have to have a thief or pickpocket who keeps your bag or wallet for hours, instead of grabbing the valuables and getting rid of it as soon as possible.

It must be a very stupid thief.

And yes, only at that point he or she can find your AirTag and destroy it. So you have at least 8 hours, possibly much more, for tracking the stupid thief who is still carrying your property.
What are the chances that the Airtag has not been found or it is still attached to your property, many hours after being stolen? Practically zero.

And out of curiosity, what would you do during the 8+ hours when you can still track the lost Airtag and it's not detectable by the thief? Find him and challenge him? I'm not saying that it's not useful to know where it is, but you can't expect that you can track it for an indefinite amount of time.

Now, if you tell me that 8 to 24 hours it's an awful long time to alert the stalked person, that's another story. Unfortunately there's no perfect solution. Stalking cases have been documented and discovered thanks to this feature, so it's not an hypothetical scenario.

 

[sahajesh]

Explain to me how Vision Pro integration is even a possibility considering the device itself doesn’t have UWB…

Also what is the point? I’m going to walk around my house to visualise where my tagged device is??!

 

[JesterJJZ]

Uh, no?
Why would you ever want the speaker removed other than very questionable purposes?
This is one of the very few times where I’m actually completely in favor of Apple doing parts pairing. If someone tries to remove a speaker from an AirTag, the thing should become a brick.

So if our stuff gets stolen the thief can't easily find it. Duh.

 

[PPCmike]

I literally just want to be able to put my AirTag on my Apple watch charger to charge it. The having to buy CR2032 battery every time it dies is super annoying and the reason I only have 2 and never got anymore.

I agree I just replaced the one in my suitcase a few days ago only after I noticed I didn't see it in my find my app.. and then it says to me 3 days later the battery is low.

 

[MrWillie]

Oh heck no. I have had to replace it once in like 2-3 years. Why would I want to charge it? Plus, it’s so much better to replace the battery than the whole thing. Better for environment too!

Why would you replace the whole thing. I have/had several devices in my home that have replaceable rechargeable batteries. Of course Apple being Apple would seal the AirTag.

How about a hole where you can put a keyring or something throughout without having to buy a holder or something? There are numerous cheaper Find My devices on Aliexpress that have this "feature", not to mention the Verbatim tags. Bit silly that the Apple ones don't include such a simple thing.

Well if they did that, then they can't sell chumps a $35 key fob that's made out of that crappy material that they used to replace leather.

 

[Takeo Apple]

I literally just want to be able to put my AirTag on my Apple watch charger to charge it. The having to buy CR2032 battery every time it dies is super annoying and the reason I only have 2 and never got anymore.

nah... those batteries are like 1$ or less and if you have a rechargeable battery, imagine all those posts, how after 2-3 years the battery is "degraded" blabla - no no, Apple did the right thing, can't fix lazy to buy batteries and pop them out and in in like 1 minute.

 

[Rychiar]

Thievery, of course, isn't INTENDED to be a use case for AirTags.

But you do you!

but that's what most people use it for....

 

[dirtylilhobo]

• A more tamper-proof speaker, to reduce usage of AirTags for stalking.

Absolutely not! The airtags must have removable speakers. Their primary use is for placing an airtag in equipment, vehicles, trailers and must not alert the entity that stole it.

 

[emulator]

Haha, nobody is buying these for $99, even the stupidest GMA watching soccer mom knows they can be had for $75-80 every day somewhere.

 

[drumcat]

Really hope they're the same exact shape.

I definitely would like to see rechargeable batteries, but NOT at the expense of having to toss the whole thing. Having the option for which battery is a good thing. Sure, if you can get a rechargeable 2032, fab. But if you're going that way, invest in that for yourself. Don't force me to e-waste something that works fine.