Apple AirTag
Find lost things — with some caveats
$29 (4–pack $99) From Apple, apple.com
Features U1 chip for Precision Finding (U1 chip needed in iPhone for Precision Finding), Near–Field Communication, Bluetooth, Siri support, IP67 rated, CR2032 replaceable battery
Keeping track of your stuff can be tricky at the best of times. Are your keys in your jacket? What about your iPhone? Thankfully, that last one is easy to fix thanks to Find My — the app and iCloud service that makes it easy to track Apple devices. But, seriously, where are your keys?
Enter AirTag, an Apple–branded tracker that comprises Bluetooth, an ultra–wideband U1 chip and Near–Field Communication tech, and Find My to help you find just about anything you’ve attached it to.
The item–tracking concept isn’t new. Tile, Chipolo and Samsung’s SmartThings all offer Bluetooth trackers and have done so for years. However, Apple’s belated entry into the sector could be a game changer — thanks to its ability to create intersection points between hardware, software, and services. The question is: how magic is the AirTag?
The AirTag costs $29 and is slightly bigger than a coin and around three times as thick, with a chrome front and glossy white back. The disc springs into life the second you remove the tag that activates the supplied CR2032 battery. On an iPhone updated with iOS 14.5, the AirTag appears on–screen so you can pair it with your device, with a menu offering a range of preset names as well as a Custom Name option. The AirTag then links itself to your Apple ID, appearing under the new Items tab in the Find My app on iPhone, iPad, and macOS.
In Find My, you can play a sound using the AirTag’s built–in speaker or if you own an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 with a U1
chip, use that chip’s capabilities to help find exactly where an item is. The Find My screen shows direction arrows and your phone gives haptic feedback, while also showing the distance to the AirTag in feet. Once it’s found an item, Find My says “It’s Here.”
On other Apple devices without a U1 chip, you’ll just be given an idea of an AirTag’s likely location. You can, however, still tap the Sound button. Curiously, though, the macOS version of Find My doesn’t give this option. And the sound the AirTag makes isn’t particularly loud, so you’ll need to be in a fairly quiet place.
You can also put an AirTag into Lost Mode. This enables you to assign it a phone number so that anyone who finds it with an NFC–enabled device can return the item to the owner.
TESTING, TESTING
To test the AirTag, we embarked on an AirTag treasure hunt in our HQ — with the device out of range, Find My told us to move to a different location. After traversing all five floors of the building with no signal, we got a “Connected. Signal is weak. Try moving to a different location” message before finally picking up a signal strong enough for the tracking on an iPhone 12 Pro to work. We managed to pinpoint the exact location, confirming with the use of the Sound button.
So we found the AirTag, but it took a while. This was partly because the building wasn’t overly occupied with Bluetooth users, and partly because while the AirTag contains an accelerometer, it doesn’t have an altimeter so we couldn’t tell which floor it was on.
The biggest issue is privacy.
Apple says it’s ensured that AirTags are secure, and you are warned if there’s an AirTag nearby that doesn’t belong to you. However, the on–screen warning only works if you’re on iOS 14.5 and doesn’t work on Android. Apple says an undetected AirTag will also play a sound “over time” — although it doesn’t specify how long. Maybe take Apple’s privacy assertions with a grain of salt, then. Or if you do discover one that doesn’t belong to you, pop out the battery.
Finally, there are the accessories, and AirTag’s build quality. While Tile and others include a hole in their trackers to make them easy to attach to any keyring, Apple does not — instead, it sells AirTag key fobs and loops, which range from affordable to expensive. You might also want to invest in a protective film for your AirTag. One of ours has only been in place for a few days but its chrome and plastic body is already starting to get scuffed.
Parents might also want to make sure that the AirTag is kept away from small children because its relatively small size and easy–to–open battery compartment are potential hazards. It’s also worth noting that unless you stow AirTags deliberately out of sight, they’re pretty easily removed, while the shiny finish, Apple logo and fashion–forward loops and fobs are positively attention–seeking.
THE BOTTOM LINE. There’s a lot to love, but the AirTag’s flaws are significant enough that we can’t give it top billing yet. ROB MEAD-GREEN