Everyone has been asking us – what kind of battery life will we have with Apples new AirTags? So we’re adding it to our AirTags FAQ.
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?).
