Apple Launched AirTag 5 Years Ago Today

Apple's AirTag point tracker turns 5 years aged today, with the $29 accessory having spent fractional a decennary arsenic the best-selling point tracker successful the world.



The ‌AirTag‌ launched connected April 30, 2021, alongside the M1 iMac, a caller iPad Pro, and a caller Apple TV 4K. The coin-shaped accessory has a polished stainless alloy back, IP67 h2o resistance, and a U1 Ultra Wideband spot that powers Precision Finding, a diagnostic that combines haptic, visual, and audio feedback to usher users to a mislaid item's precise determination with the iPhone 11 and later.

Setup works by bringing the tag adjacent to an iPhone, with each ‌AirTag‌ appearing successful the Items tab of the Find My app. The ‌Find My‌ network, which relies connected Bluetooth signals from adjacent Apple devices to relay determination data, allows a mislaid point to beryllium tracked adjacent erstwhile retired of nonstop range. The ‌AirTag‌ is priced astatine $29 for a azygous tag oregon $99 for a four-pack, with escaped engraving available.

Reports of the AirTag being misused for stalking and conveyance theft surfaced wrong months of launch, with its tiny size, debased price, and the breadth of the ‌Find My‌ web making it an charismatic instrumentality for atrocious actors. Apple released a statement successful February 2022 saying incidents of misuse were "rare; however, each lawsuit is 1 excessively many," and introduced setup warnings making wide that utilizing an ‌AirTag‌ to way radical without consent is simply a transgression successful galore regions.

A class-action lawsuit filed successful California successful December 2022, aboriginal expanded to see much than 3 twelve plaintiffs, alleged that the product's accuracy and affordability made it well-suited for misuse, and a national justice allowed definite claims to determination guardant successful March 2024. Apple and Google aboriginal aligned connected cross-platform specifications truthful that Android users person automatic unwanted tracking alerts alongside iPhone users.

Despite the controversy, Apple says the ‌AirTag‌ became its best-selling point tracking accessory, citing idiosyncratic stories of recovering mislaid luggage, bicycles, and bags successful the years since launch.

Apple released the second-generation AirTag successful January 2026. The updated exemplary features a second-generation Ultra Wideband spot with Precision Finding moving from up to 50% farther away, an upgraded Bluetooth chip, and a talker 50% louder than the original. For the archetypal time, Precision Finding besides works with Apple Watch Series 9 models and later. A teardown revealed that the talker magnet is much firmly secured successful the second-generation model, making it harder to remove, a modification that had antecedently been utilized to soundlessness unwanted tracking alerts. Pricing remains $29 for a azygous tag and $99 for a four-pack.
This article, "Apple Launched AirTag 5 Years Ago Today" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

Discuss this article successful our forums