While Apple is always tight-lipped on its new and pending products, we were lucky to get a preview of the upcoming AirTags from the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), where Apple has publicly filed for a number of AirTags-related patents.
One is Patent Application 20200337162, excitingly titled “MOUNTING BASE FOR A WIRELESSLY LOCATABLE TAG” which was filed September 26, 2019, and just updated last month on October 22, 2020. The “wirelessly locatable tag” is – you guessed it – our much anticipated Apple AirTags.
Like most patents, this patent and its related other patents (another one is here – the beautifully named “FASTENER WITH A CONSTRAINED RETENTION RING”) are painful to read (unless you are a patent lawyer – in which case is must bring you… I don’t know… joy?) – but it does provide several tantalizing clues:
AirTags are going to be round discs (see picture below)
And they’re battery powered (with reference to multiple batteries being an option?). Will AirTags be rechargeable or will they have replaceable cell batteries? We’re betting rechargeable, but the patent applications are not clear on this topic – we will have to wait and see.
