Apple released their soon-to-be-iconic AirTag trackers today. They have everything we have predicted in our countless AirTag rumors and our AirTag FAQ has already been updated to reflect all the details of today’s latest and greatest news.

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Key AirTag Features:

• AirTag uses Apple’s vast, global Find My network of iPhone and iPad users to help locate a lost item
• Location data remains private and anonymous with end-to-end encryption
• Launches / Available for order beginning Friday, April 30 at 5 a.m. PT
• One AirTag costs $29, and a four-pack of AirTags is available for a discounted price of $99
• Makes one heck-of-a Pet Tracker

What is Apple AirTag’s “Precision Finding”? How does the U1 Ultra-Wideband chip help you find your stuff?

• AirTag enables Apple’s “Precision Finding” system by using its proprietary “indoor GPS” U1 Ultra Wideband chip to help direct you to the exact location of whatever you attached AirTag to, instead of relying on just a simple beeping system like AirTag competitors from Samsung and Tile
• Precision Finding helps you more accurately determine the distance and direction to a lost AirTag when it is in range. As you walk or drive with your iPhone or iPad in-hand, Precision Finding fuses input from the camera, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope, to help guide you to AirTag using a combination of sound, haptics, and visual feedback… So you can be inside your house, and it can help you turn left, right and go straight, tell you whether you’re getting hotter or colder, and then take you to that long-lost set of car keys, quickly.

So, how do you find your lost items with Apple AirTag trackers?

• Are you worried about losing an important item (or furry friend – see article on Are Apple AirTags Good Pet Trackers?), well then the first thing to do is to attach an AirTag to it!
• Then, you simply use the Find My app, which is built into every iPhone, iPad and Mac, to help find your lost item & AirTag (just like you’ve used the Find My App in the past to track down your lost iPhones)
• If the AirTag and your precious cargo are in Bluetooth range (e.g., in the the house), it will lead you right to it (oh look, the remote is under the couch… again)
• But, if your item and the AirTag is separated from its owner and out of Bluetooth range (e.g., if Fido ran away!) then you’ll rely on Apple’s nearly-billion-strong network of other iPhone / iPad / Apple Watch users… This is called the “Find My network” and it will help you help track your missing AirTag down
• Apple notes that “the Find My network is approaching a billion Apple devices and can detect Bluetooth signals from a lost AirTag and relay the location back to its owner, all in the background, anonymously and privately”
• Lost something? Simply open your Find My app and place your AirTag into “Lost Mode” – and you’ll (quickly) be notified when it is in range of anyone in the world with a modern iPhone or iPad, as they are the ones who comprise the Find My network
• Imagine – Fido is bound to be chewing on a bone down the street… but what street is he on, and what if he’s hiding behind a bush? Well, if he’s within 300′ or so of any random stranger with an iPhone – their phone will find him, and anonymously let you know exactly where he’s hiding. That’s. Freaking. Amazing. Welcome home Fido, and thank you AirTags!
• Did you find someone’s lost device with an AirTag on it, and want their hero / new BFF? You can help them find it! Simply tap it with your iPhone or any NFC-capable device and you will be taken to a website that will display a contact phone number for the owner, if they have provided one, and help them get it back quickly! I found someone’s locked iPhone on the street the other day, and it was much harder to return than it should have been… I had to keep it charged for hours until a friend of theirs called to ask where it was. Things should be easier to find and return, and with AirTags, now they are.

That sounds amazing… But, what about privacy? Can someone hide an AirTag in my car and spy on me and track me around the world? Do I need to be creeped out by stalkers with AirTags?

• Maybe… But Apple has thought this through, so AirTag has privacy built-in from launch
• First off, you don’t need to worry about Apple or some government entity finding and following you using your own AirTag trackers. Apple boasts that AirTag is designed to keep location data private and secure, as there is “no location data or location history physically stored inside AirTag.” So, check creepy hacking off your list.
• Further, “communication with the Find My network is end-to-end encrypted so that only the owner of a device has access to its location data, and no one, including Apple, knows the identity or location of any device that helped find it.”

That’s nerdy and reassuring… But that doesn’t stop my angry ex from sticking an AirTag in my car and following me around. How do I know if such a small AirTag is hidden in my bag somewhere?

• AirTag is also designed to prevent unwanted tracking a key differentiator from its many AirTag Competitors
• On a technical level, bluetooth signal identifiers transmitted by AirTag rotate frequently to prevent unwanted location tracking / hacking
• More importantly, iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time. This means that if someone stuck one in your bag and you own an iPhone it will warn you that a tracker belonging to someone else has hitched a ride with you and is announcing your location to the world. That’s pretty slick
• If I use Android, do I need to worry about stalkers tracking me with a hidden AirTag? Unfortunately, you kind of do. Since you won’t have an iOS device to automatically warn you that a suspicious AirTag is traveling with you, you’re likely not going to notice it right away. Fortunately, Apple has a backup system in place to give you some privacy… an AirTag separated from its owner for an extended period of time will play an audible sound when moved to draw attention to it. I guess we have to all tune our ears to listen for random beeps from now on!
• And, if you do find an unknown AirTag in your stuff, you can tap it with an iPhone (or Android phone – or any NFC-capable device) and instructions will guide them to disable the unknown AirTag. But, let’s be real, you’d A) throw it out or smash it immediately, and B) quickly fire off a text to your Ex telling them to stop being creepy, ASAP
• Basically, if you’re worried about privacy, it might be worth getting iPhone now just to “bug-sweep” your life and ensure that you are AirTag free!

Apple is launching its AirTag trackers with CR2032 battery, which they claim provides “over one year” of battery life. Real-world battery life is yet to be determined (we haven’t had AirTags a year yet!) but will likely vary depending on environmental and use conditions. AirTag batteries won’t last as long in the cold, for example, and if you use ring the speaker on your AirTag every day, it’s going to die faster than if you do it just once every couple of months.

Importantly, AirTags have a user-replaceable battery – so you can simply open the AirTag battery cover, and swap in a new CR2032 battery and get another year of tracking. Amazon sells a 6-Pack of CR2032 AirTag batteries for about $10, so thank-you-Apple for choosing a widely available and standardized replaceable battery.

How does Apple AirTag battery life compare to Tile?

Tile has a range of bluetooth trackers, with both user-replaceable and permanent / built-in batteries.

• User-Replaceable Batteries Deliver One-Year Battery Life: Both the Tile Pro and the Tile Mate have user-replaceable batteries (CR2032 (like AirTags) and CR1632, respectively, for you battery-nerds out there). These deliver one-year of battery life, on average. Pros: Your tracker lasts “forever” as you can simply replace the battery every year when it dies. Cons: one-year of battery life sounds decent when compared to an iPhone’s or Apple Watch’s daily charging requirements, but it’s not necessarily as good as the Tile devices with built-in batteries. Another con is the size – replaceable battery devices are naturally larger than permanent batters . Plus, who’s going to remember to replace the battery in the AirTags on your bicycle. I can see a lot of “Hey Siri – please remind me in a year to replace all the batteries in all of my AirTags before I permanently lose all of my things!” (Editor’s Note: I’m joking a bit… Your iPhone automatically reminds you when your AirTag batteries are getting low… still, people are going to be buying A LOT of CR2032 batteries on Amazon next year when they all start to die at once)
• Fixed or Permanent Batteries Deliver Three-Year Battery Life: Tile’s Slim and Sticker lines of trackers have built-in, non-replaceable batteries that last for three years. That’s three times the battery life of CR2032 in Apple AirTags. Pros: 3x the battery life, smaller enclosure, less hassle for the user. Cons: unlike AirTags, when your Tile Slim’s battery dies, your Tile has died.

Other thoughts on batteries – Will Future AirTags be Rechargeable?

Let’s look at some of Apple’s other devices… Do any of them have replaceable batteries? Do any have permanent non-replaceable (non-rechargeable batteries)?

• Standard Rechargeable Batteries – Plug It In: iPhones, MacBooks, iPads – they are all rechargeable, and do not have replaceable batteries. Apple long-ago did away with the second battery port or concept of swapping batteries on its laptops. That’s no longer in the Apple design DNA… So it’s a bit surprising (though a pleasant surprise) to see a replaceable battery with the AirTag Launch. Still, one has to wonder if Future AirTags (see our AirTag Rumors coverage) might switch to rechargeable technology
• Novel Rechargeable Batteries – Apple likes Wireless Charging: Apple is also the king of battery charging innovation – Magsafe chargers appeared years ago on MacBooks, and now they’re on the new iPhone 12 as well. The Watch also has always had its own special magnetic charger (oddly, not called “MagSafe”). The Apple Pencil for the iPad originally had to be uncapped and plugged into the iPad’s Lightning port to charge, which in itself was rather slick, but now they just magnetically stick to the side of the iPad to charge wirelessly – which is way cooler.
• Failed Wireless Dreams – The Death of AirPower: Apple did something unusual a few years ago… In September of 2017, Apple announced it was releasing AirPower – a slick looking mat that promised to charge your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods all at once, wirelessly, without having to worry about where you put them down on the mat. To make a long story short… it never worked and was never released. Apple officially canceled it a couple years later.

Bottom-line: Apple released AirTags on April 20th, 2021 with an inexpensive, easily replaceable year-long battery. We do that expect potential future AirTags releases may offer long-lasting (multi-year) permanent, non-replaceable non-rechargeable batteries instead / as an option (maybe “AirTags Pro”?). Rechargeable batteries are slick but they don’t have the battery life needed (e.g., do you really want to bring your bicycle inside every week to charge your AirTags?).

Editor’s Note: Check out the results of our AirTags Range Ultimate Challenge – Tracking an AirTag from 3,500 miles away

As another real-world example, let’s say you rode your bike to the beach, and after a long day of playing in the waves and having lunch in the sun, you cannot remember where you parked. Luckily, you installed an Apple AirTag on your bicycle… how do you find your missing item with AirTags and how far away can you be from your AirTags and still have them work?

Bluetooth-based trackers, like the Tile Pro (see our Apple AirTags vs. Tile Trackers Comparison) or Samsung Galaxy SmartTag (see our Samsung SmartTags vs. Apple AirTags Review), have a maximum range of 300 feet or 100 meters. Apple’s AirTag matches this in basic bluetooth range, plus AirTags have an effectively unlimited range due to Apple’s global Find My network of iOS devices.

Does that mean you need to walk or drive around with your iPhone in your hand until you are within 300 feet / 100 meters of your lost bicycle with AirTags in order to find it? Nope. The best part about finding something with an AirTag is that it uses the network of Apple products and users to help you find your lost item (the so-called “Find My network”)… so you really just need anyone with an iPhone to be within 300 feet or 100 meters of your lost bike and you’ll be able to find it. With already nearly a billion Apple devices in the Find My network worldwide, someone will walk by your bike soon and you’ll find your AirTags-tracked device quickly!

Plus AirTags using the U1 chip can locate missing items within 30cm of accuracy! Your sunburned-self will be back on your bike in no time.

Looking for the Best AirTag Cases and AirTags Accessories? Check out our recent article on where to buy AirTags and AirTag Accessories

How does AirTags cost compare to AirTag Competitors such as Tile and Chipolo (affiliate)? Read on below. (And for other questions and answers, see our AirTag FAQ)

AirTags Device Cost:

Tile prices its Pro line of bluetooth trackers at $35 each – or as low as $25 each if you buy a four-pack – which is the same as Apple AirTags. Tile also has sells the less-expensive Mate series of trackers for $25 each – or as low as $17.50 each if you them in a four-pack, but these really aren’t comparable… Think Apple would release something that wasn’t at the Tile Pro-level? We don’t. So expect that AirTags should cost somewhere in the range of $25 – Editor’s note, this AirTag Rumor was confirmed.

AirTags Monthly or Annual Service Cost?

Apple released its Q4’20 earnings release on September 20th, 2020 and put right in the headline that Services hit an all-time record – so its obviously an area of focus for the company in terms of how to grow its top-line. And, you can see in their actual 10-Q financials that Services accounted for 20% of fiscal 2020 revenue for Apple, and an impressive 34% of gross profit (Services are higher margin than hardware or “Products” as Apple calls them). So Services are a real thing… Apple wants you to pay them monthly, yearly, heck if you’ll pay them daily & buy them lunch they’d probably take that too.

But will AirTags simply fall into the Products revenue line item as a one-time charge on your Apple-branded credit card, or will AirTags have a recurring subscription fee? Well, unlike the competition (sorry Tile), AirTag does not require a monthly or annual service fee.

Tile sells its Premium service for $30/year and its Premium Protect product for $100/year. Tile Premium gives you additional features (smart alerts if you walk away from your device (e.g., you leave your wallet at the bar), free battery replacement, and 30-day location history for your devices), extended warranty (extends warranty on Tiles from 1-year to 3-years), and expanded customer service. Those last two (warranty and premium support) sound a lot like AppleCare, so we’ll have to see if Apple ultimately offers AppleCare for AirTags.

Will Apple offer a service for AirTags like Tile’s Premium Protect? Tile’s Premium Protect offers everything Tile Premium does… but it’s $100/year instead of $30, so what are you getting for that extra $70? Insurance. Premium Protect covers lost items that you had Tile trackers stuck for up to $1000 in reimbursements a year. Tile explains it like this “If your Tiled item is lost for any reason, and Tile can’t find it, we reimburse you. This service warranty provides up to $1000 per year with no additional fees through XCover.” XCover is a third-party insurance company with whom Tile works…

Do you think Apple wants to be in the insurance business? They sort of are already, with AppleCare, but that’s only for their own devices… I don’t see them wanting to insure against the theft of a lost bicycle. But hey – who’s Apple third-largest shareholder (after mutual fund companies Vanguard and Blackrock)? Why, it’s the insurance-magnate and Oracle-of-Omaha Warren Buffett’s very own Berkshire Hathaway. They own Geico and loads of other insurance companies. Maybe Apple would offer Geico insurance on AirTags Premium+ AppleCare+ Super-Duper-Crazy-Insurance? Editor’s note: <– that’s obviously not going to be the name of AirTags AppleCare… We clearly need to take a marketing class! We’ll have to see.

AirTag’s “secret sauce” is the U1 ultra-wideband chip, which powers AirTag’s ability to ping an iPhone or Apple Watch with their precise location – with accuracy to within 30cm (1 foot).

Apple first included the U1 ultra-wideband chip in its iPhone 11 release but subsequently included it in the Apple Watch as well, future-proofing them to ensure AirTags compatibility.

Apple began including the U1 ultra-wideband chip in the Apple Watch Series 6, but importantly, it is not included in the lower-priced Apple Watch SE nor is it included in the even-lower-priced (and somehow still-for-sale) Apple Watch Series 3.

Bottom line is: though it is still a Rumor, we expect the Apple Watch will ultimately be AirTag compatible. So if you want to ensure your Apple Watch is compatible with AirTags, get the Apple Watch Series 6 – as it’s currently the only model that includes the U1 ultra-wideband location chip.

Apple has now confirmed (yes, CONFIRMED) that they are holding a product release event on Tuesday April 20th, 2021! Their “Spring Loaded” event. Will Apple release AirTags this week? Or does last week’s announcement of the Chipolo ONE Spot tracker (basically already an AirTag) mean that Apple’s leaving them to third-party developers? We’ll have to wait and see!

Often-accurate-Apple-leaker Max Weinbach (of the YouTube channel EverythingApplePro), says AirTags are coming out “soon.” Fantastic. Optimistic enough to keep us hooked, but not so specific as to risk being wrong! Well played!

Want even more specificity and certainty than the word “soon?” Well, let’s turn to one of our repeat rumor-creators, Jon Prosser (YouTube channel Front Page Tech), who is back with yet another less-than-confident prediction. Jon claims that AirTags are coming out in April – and says this time he has the info from a source with 100% historical rumor accuracy. So he should feel pretty good about it… But, alas. Jon says of his own rumor that he is “skeptical” as Apple hasn’t had an April launch in 14 years. Terrific…

Will AirTags come out this Spring? Are AirTags being released soon? Are AirTags launch in April. Maybe, definitely, and possibly. 100%. Let’s see how this turns out.

In other news, Mr. Weinbach did provide the world with further details of AirTags, so look out our next article on AirTags Dimensions. Thank you Max, and fingers crossed you’re right with that “soon” prediction as well.

Big news, AirTags fans! Apple launch its Find My network and opened it to third parties this past week, officially announcing that third-party accessory makers can create devices that enable users to keep track of their belongings in the new Items tab within the Find My app! Even better, our friends at Chipolo (affiliate) are one of Apple’s key launch partners, and effectively already launched AirTags with the Chipolo One Spot tracker – read on below for more.

Confirming many of our AirTags Rumors, Apple hailed the private and secure tracking capabilities of their newly named “Find My network,” noting that it already comprises of hundreds of millions of Apple devices (see our article, Does My iPhone Work with the Find My App?).

Even better, Apple is just opening up some nerdy protocol in their systems without any use to us, the end-users… Apple announced a whole slew of products are launching this week from third-party developers! Specifically, new products that work with the Find My app from will launch this week from Belkin, VanMoof, and Chipolo.

In the announcement, Apple VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Bob Borchers noted that “For more than a decade, our customers have relied on Find My to locate their missing or stolen Apple devices, all while protecting their privacy… Now we’re bringing the powerful finding capabilities of Find My, one of our most popular services, to more people with the Find My network accessory program. We’re thrilled to see how Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof are utilizing this technology, and can’t wait to see what other partners create.”

What Are the New Apple Find My Products? Are there any AirTags Competitors?

Apple’s Find My launch partners include general accessory-maker Belkin, and two relatively obscure names… VanMoof and Chipolo. What are they releasing? An AirPods competitor, a couple of e-bikes, and importantly a true AirTags competitor.

Belkin’s first Find My compatible product will be its SOUNDFORM Freedom True Wireless Earbuds, a $99 set of noise-cancelling AirPod competitor headphones, launching in June. Key feature of note here is that you can find the charging case, if lost, using Apple’s Find My app…

VanMoof’s Find My compatible products will be the latest S3 and X3 e-bikes. Having built-in Find My tracking on a $2,000 e-bike is a huge and obvious plus! Will make a stolen bike so much easier to recover (and even possibly prevent thefts, if smart thieves know what they’re dealing with). I might have to try one of these S3s…

Most Importantly… What is Chipolo launching? The Chipolo One Spot – a real Apple-approved AirTags Competitor. Chipolo’s launch is exciting. A tracking tile that is compatible with Find My, and therefore enables hundreds of millions of iPhones to help you find your lost item (just like AirTags). This is basically the first release of Apple AirTags, and will certainly give Tile a real run for its money. I signed up to pre-order one for the June launch, and if you want to see one anytime soon, I suggest you do as well! In the meantime, you can also check out the Chipolo One for $25 at Amazon.

What does this mean for AirTags?

So the above was exciting, and we cannot wait to see what new products Chipolo and others launch… But we have to ask and wonder – is Apple still coming out with AirTags? Why would Apple allow its accessory makers to launch a whole new category of products before it release AirTags?

Some have speculated that this is classic, legal “CYA” – and Apple is simply trying to demonstrate that it is not stifling competition (in fact, it is encouraging competitors and giving them a head-start). Though, one must wonder, who has the most to lose to AirTags in a launch? I would have said tracker companies like Chipolo (but they are participating in the Find My launch) and Tile (still conspicuously absent). The Tile Pro is the best-selling AirTags competitor out there today (other than perhaps the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag, though it only works with Samsung Galaxy phones…), and therefore has the most to lose when Apple ultimately launches AirTags. Will today’s launch of the Chipolo One Spot, and Belkin / VanMoof products + promise of more on way mean Apple is now legally clear to launch AirTags? Will Tile ultimately join the party? We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m sure plenty of highly paid lawyers will choose to weigh in.

OK, the title might be a bit tongue-in-cheek but you can’t blame us for getting excited and also trying to temper expectations. Yes, you’ve read here now and probably seen it elsewhere – the interwebs is alive now with a rumored Apple AirTags release event of March 23, 2021.

Loyal readers and AirTags fanatics will know, expected AirTags release date rumors have come and gone before. We just recently ran a piece saying that Apple AirTag will be Released in March but without a specific date on the calendar… Before that, well, we had a quite a few “quasi-credible” leaks and rumors come and go as well (January’s Are AirTags Coming Out in 2021, December’s AirTags Rumors: When Will AirTags Be Announced, the sadly disappointing pre-holiday Will AirTags Be Announced in time for Christmas, and many others that hit our inboxes but didn’t make the publishing cut).

So – what’s behind this week’s AirTag rumor and release-date leak, and is it credible? Let’s take a look.

Twitter-user Kang, who posts under DuanRui and has correctly predicted some prior Apple announcements, seems to be the first to have circled March 23rd on the calendar as the official AirTags release date – or at least, the next official Apple product announcement event (TBD on whether it includes AirTags). See his Tweet below:

Others had previously said the the 16th might be the date – but that felt like random conjecture based on the fact that Apple usually holds a release event in March each year, and was quickly shot-down by a more-connected source… Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman. His two tweets below summarize his thoughts pretty clearly. Not happening on the 16th… But no word on the 23rd.

So, OK, not the 16th. What about DuanRui’s 23rd comment – has anyone else with a decent track record of predicting Apple rumors confirmed that date as a possibility for an Apple event or AirTags release date?

Yes, Jon Prosser “confirmed” the 23rd in his tweet – he agrees, it must. be. happening. now… right? I mean, people don’t tweet without a lot of thought and evidence… right??? (sarcasm). Let’s see who might contradict Mr. Prosser next… It’s —– Mr. Prosser!

Jon Prosser waited a full 25 minutes, and then said he didn’t realize the 23rd was also the date of an upcoming OnePlus android phone release event, and changed his mind. Oh well… that was short-lived.

So, will Apple hold an event on March 23rd, and if so, will AirTags be released? Let’s wait and see!

AirTags are still on for March.

Haven’t heard of any further delays this time.

— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) February 12, 2021