Apple has released a Bluetooth tracking device, Apple AirTags, that can ensure you’ll always find a missing gadget or accessory. Its basic elevator pitch is a tile-tag tracking device that you can attach to your wallet, keys, or other items. The Apple AirTags sync with the Find My app on your phone.
Unlike current devices that sync with the Find My app, Apple AirTags are always trackable in real-time. It’s finally the solution we’ve been waiting for—essentially an iPhone app to find lost keys and other important gadgets or accessories.
How Do Apple AirTags Work?
The difference between Apple AirTags and other tracker devices is that AirTags can seamlessly integrate into your Apple ecosystem. AirTags come with built-in chips engineered to sync with Apple products, like your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or iMac. The AirTags constantly relay location information to your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or iMac so you’ll always know where they are in real-time. And AirTags are super easy to set up with an iPhone or other compatible iOS device.
A godsend for absent-minded Apple users like myself
The offline location-finding is a big deal for those of us who constantly lose our Apple devices. For me, who can never keep his AirPods in the same place, having real-time tracking data will bring a lot of peace of mind. As it stands now, when I lose my AirPods, I’ll open the Find My app and it will tell me the last known location when my iPhone connected to the AirPods. Problem is, with an 18-month-old baby who has a penchant for hiding AirPods, the last known location isn’t always very helpful.
Similarly, for those of us who have tragically lost a brand new iPhone, iPad, AirPods, or any Apple device that’s run out of battery, the Find My iPhone app can’t pull real-time, offline finding info. Maybe if I had Apple AirTags, I could recover my long-lost first-generation AirPods that I left on a Delta flight.Whenever you lose the item attached to your AirTags, you can use the Find My app to get accurate details on where the lost item resides. You can also trigger your AirTags to make a noise to help you find them at the bottom of your sock drawer, for example.
The AirTags will appear under the “Devices” section when you open the Find My app. You can count on the AirTags working with any future iPhones or iPads.
Imagine AirTags populating under this list when you lose your device.
The downside, of course, is that yet another tech company will have more location data on you and your devices. Our recent survey about tech security indicated that 85% of the participants believed that at least one tech company is spying on them. Tracking devices like AirTags can currently stoke the fire of tech-security anxiety.
What Do AirTags Look Like?
AirTags are a circular tracking tag with the classic clean-white Apple aesthetic. Here’s a peek at what AirTags look like:
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It’s a small, bottle-cap-sized device that’s intended to be inserted into a pouch that you can attach to any keychain. As you can imagine, AirTags make a lot of sense on your keyring, but they can also attach to backpacks, purses, or your computer case. Here’s a look at the finished product with an accompanying accessory:
In this particular case, the designer-made pouch shown above costs an obscene $349, but thankfully there are much more affordable pouches that you can use with your AirTags. But you get the idea that AirTags attach via keychain and send real-time location updates to your phone.
Free Engraving
When you purchase your AirTags, you can get a free engraving to personalize your tracker. You can choose from a combination of emojis, letters, and numbers. You can fit up to three symbols on your free engraving.
Apple AirTags Price Point
The Apple AirTags cost $29 for an individual AirTag or $99 for a pack of four (costing about $25 each). Comparatively, the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag costs between $23 and $30, and the Tile tracker ranges between $25 and $35. As all Apple customers likely know at this point, there’s usually a price increase when it comes to Apple-owned products.
How Accurate Are AirTags?
Apple AirTags are built with a U1 chip using Ultra Wideband technology that allows for precision finding. In layman's terms, the AirTags have the most accurate tracking technology available. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on how to find your missing AirTags.
The Find My iPhone app currently gives a general idea of where your lost device was left but doesn’t offer anything specific. For example, you can see that your missing AirPods are somewhere at the local park, but the app won’t give you any information beyond that. The idea is with the new tracking technology, the Find My app will be able to guide you to the exact spot your AirTags were left.
The downside is, AirTags can only give specific instructions on the following devices:
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple’s new tracking technology leverages the camera in the latest iPhone devices to track your location and the location of the missing AirTags. The tracking instructions rely on your camera to know where you are, and what direction you’re facing, to provide super-specific details. We’re talking details so specific like, “AirTag is 8 feet to your right.” It’s too bad that owners of older iPhones won’t be able to use the precision tracking feature, but all users can still rely on receiving general tracking information and the ability to trigger the AirTags to make a noise.
Still can't find your AirTags? Keep your ears open.
If your AirTags have been missing for a while, the built-in speakers will make a noise if the AirTags are moved at all. The hope is that whoever moved the AirTags will get the hint that these are lost items. The person who finds the missing AirTags can hold them up to their smartphone, automatically opening a webpage that helps contact the owner.
AirTags Use a Bluetooth Connection
AirTags use Bluetooth technology to provide live location updates—but what happens if you lose your AirTags and are outside of Bluetooth range? If you’ve ever set down your phone and walked away while wearing AirPods, you’ll discover that the Bluetooth range is about 30 feet, or 10 meters, out. If you lose your AirTags outside of that 30-foot range, you can rely on Apple’s Find My network to track your lost items down.
Basically, you can get information from other people’s phones who may be near your lost item. It sounds fishy, but Apple guarantees that all of this information exchanged between phones operates in the background and is completely encrypted. When you open the Find My app and discover that your AirTags are out of Bluetooth range, you’ll receive live information from other folks' phones about its location. For example, you can get an update from the app saying your AirTags were seen near Main Street Boulevard in your town. You can then go to the last-seen location and hopefully connect via Bluetooth for step-by-step instructions to recover your lost items.
Verdict: Are Apple AirTags worth it?
We tested out a set of Apple AirTags and—spoiler alert—we were seriously impressed with the results. Check out our full Apple Airtags review to see how they measured up!
Tyler Abbott
Contributing Writer
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