In a somewhat controversial Vergecast episode, I declared that AirTags are a superior product to iPads. The iPad lovers roasted me across social media. I have heard and respect their opinions. But, I’m sorry — the second-gen AirTag has only deepened my conviction that the humble, $29 item tracker is one of Apple’s most helpful gizmos.
The new updates focus more on making a good thing better. There are upgraded ultra-wideband and Bluetooth chips that help extend the range by about 1.5 times. The chime has a new, higher pitch and is 50 percent louder thanks to a redesigned speaker. And you can now use Precision Finding for AirTags on an Apple Watch, provided you have at least a Series 9 or Ultra 2.
Before Apple announced the refresh last week, my spouse and I owned seven AirTags and were planning on buying a few more. Both of us struggle with ADHD. We have wily cats who love to bat things under couches and beds and behind shelving. Without AirTags, we’d probably spend an hour a day running up and down the 42 stairs of our four-story townhome trying to find our essentials. We have AirTags on our key fobs, TV remotes, wallets, car glove boxes, and inside our Canada Goose jackets. (They were expensive and it is arctically cold on the East Coast right now, okay?)
But we also have plenty of complaints about our AirTags. The other day, my spouse lost their keys in a car lot and spent 90 minutes looking for them. The chime was way too low, and the AirTag was struggling to connect over Bluetooth. The pudgy disc shape is annoying for wallets unless you buy one specially made to fit it. (And those wallets tend to be ugly.) They scuff easily. If your cat bats it down a staircase, there’s a good chance it comes flying apart, and you have to race the unhinged scamp so he doesn’t eat the battery.
The second-gen AirTags don’t fix most of that. They’re still the same shape, size, and design. (And, thankfully, price.) My review unit scuffed two seconds after I stuck it in the accompanying key ring. But the louder chime and extended range made a huge difference in testing.
I pitted the second-gen AirTag against an original one with a freshly replaced battery. I quickly noticed how the extended range improved connectivity. Connecting to my phone was always much faster than the original, regardless of distance. That speed meant the chime rang sooner and the signal for Precision Finding appeared quicker.
The vertical range improved, too. AirTags are best if you’re looking for things in horizontal space. They really struggle if you’re on a different floor — a perpetual problem in our townhouse. The original AirTag was fine if I was one floor up or down from my desired object. But two or more floors? Forget it. The best I could hope for was the Precision Finding screen telling me the tag was “far” or, more likely, unreachable.
Not so for the second-gen AirTag. I stuck it on the ground floor of my house and ran up all the way to the fourth floor. Not only could I reliably get a quick connection for Precision Finding, to my surprise, I could also easily hear the chime. (If everything on my street were dead silent, I could maybe hear the original AirTag from the same position, but often couldn’t.) This was true when I stuffed the AirTags under blankets and between couch cushions, too.
My favorite new feature, however, was the ability to use Precision Finding from the Apple Watch. It’s not intuitive to set up. Instead of using the Find Items app, you have to add a button to the Apple Watch control panel. It works well. When I’m doing chores around the house, I often leave my phone behind. If something with the original AirTag on it is missing, I have to first find my phone and then use Precision Finding on it to find the lost item. I never lose my Apple Watch because it’s always on me. (Honestly, the most-used function on my Apple Watch is finding my phone.)
As with the original AirTags, the new versions still have unwanted tracker alerts. Apple’s announcement post for the new model argues that the louder chime makes AirTags less attractive for nefarious purposes. Apple makes a point during setup to say that these devices are not meant for tracking people or pets — unlike Tile — but bad actors won’t listen. I haven’t had this unit long enough to see how the louder chime and extended range impact this feature in an organically triggered scenario. I’ll report back once I have.
I now want to upgrade all our perfectly good original AirTags. At minimum, that’ll set us back $200. While you can recycle old AirTags for free, you don’t get a store credit, and I hate the idea of e-waste when it’s affordable to replace the coin cell battery. My father-in-law has declared he has no such qualms and plans to update all eight of his AirTags immediately. I suggest a more reasonable compromise if you’re an AirTag power user like me. Be patient, identify the four items you tend to lose most, get a four-pack when they’re on sale, and then repurpose the original ones for items you use (or lose) less frequently but still want to track.
Ultimately, the iPad lovers have vociferously reminded me that AirTags are not for everyone. I’m inherently jealous of you geniuses who always seem to know where your things are. But if you’re like me, plagued with the executive dysfunction of a goldfish, the second-gen AirTags are a meaningful update — even if it’s not a flashy one.
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