AirTag 2 not expected until 2025 as Apple sits on backlog of first-gen inventory::If you’ve been hoping for a second-generation AirTag, you’ll have to keep waiting. According to a new report from Bloomberg,…
“If you’ve been hoping for a second-generation AirTag”
People are clamoring for the second generation of a Bluetooth luggage tracker?
Next gen will be a square with rounded edges. Oh and the pro version will come in dark gray! But personally I prefer the round ones so I‘ll wait for the 3rd generation.
You don’t want the AirTag2 Pro? It’s titanium.
For a lot of Apple users it’s about flaunting that you have the latest toy. A multi year old device is not a good status symbol.
Remember this is Apple we’re talking about. Gen 2 will introduce additional form factors and fanboys will call it “game changing”, “amazing”, and god knows what else.
New form factor you say?
Credit card sized trackers are handy for wallets.
Revolutionary!
Honestly, there aren’t a lot of credit card sized trackers with a good tracking. Chipolo recently launched one with Find My support, but from what I can tell, most other credit card trackers are on pretty small networks.
I use Tile’s personally.
I was using those for the better part of a decade. Cut over to the AirTags recently. The tracking network is night and day.
If Google’s rumored tracker launches as expected this year, and Android is also has a core tracking service that doesn’t require a third party app install, Tile’s days are numbered.
OK, well… What would people want in a second generation AirTag anyway that couldn’t be addressed with software updates? Who, other than profit-hungry shareholders, can even see a need for a second generation AirTag? The original works just fine.
Only thing I could see is making them somewhat harder to tamper with and sealed with a rechargeable battery.
They fit on the Apple Watch charger exactly. A lot of people assumed they were originally supposed to be rechargeable.
I don’t know how that could possibly been seen as an “upgrade”.
It could be used to make the device completely waterproof.
There are plenty of waterproof devices with replaceable batteries.
The idea you have to seal in the battery (and the device goes to landfill instead of getting a replacement) is a myth.
Of course it can be made waterproof with a replaceable battery, but would you trust your grandma to swap such a battery so that it stays waterproof?
Would you want to be the customer support for a device like that with a billion users? The amount of idiots failing to close the case properly and drowning their device is staggering, and the idiots are usually the ones who call CS to complain…
Yeah, it’s a stretch for sure.
That said, because the tracking network is way broader than the other BT trackers, so stalkers love use and mod these little things. And they’re very un-Apple like, in that they’re easy to open up.
Stalking has been the one thing that AirTags constantly get slammed for in the press about. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sold an updated tracker that was sealed, packed full of resin, and marketed as “more secure.”
Smaller. Thinner.
I kinda hope the next gen ones have a stronger nearby find feature. I love the feature but I still have to be within about 5 ft of it and practically have line of sight i imagine that cant be resolved with simple software updates
Those Apple fans see the need for a gen 2.
Show me those Apple fans. Show me anyone (aside from shareholders) who want a new generation. Really. Even those guys are pretty happy with the current generation.
Those guys are pretty happy with their current phone too. But when a new one comes out they buy it day one.
Tile works on both platforms
Tiles are fine for stuff around the house, but if you leave something out in the wild, that’s where they shit the bed. Tile’s tracking network is dependent upon people willingly installing the Tile app. Apple’s FindMy network was deployed via an OS release that most iPhones auto updated to.
Google is about to follow Apple’s lead and bake something into Android. Once that happens, Tile is up shit creek. They will have the worst tracking network on both iOS and Android.
Yea and I’ll tell you that Tile is far from working because I have never heard of Tile.
And I own a few AirTags myself
What, tile has been around for a long time
My point is that if tile requires people to have the app installed to broadcast it, and I, someone that has multiple AirTags has never heard of Tile let alone have the app installed, then it’s fair to say a significant amount of the population hasn’t either so their network has major gaps.
I don’t doubt that the device itself is capable or anything. But if you aren’t apple it’s just hard to get to that critical mass of users.
Tile is basically the original tracking device and predates AirTags by about 8 years.
Wile true, AirTag has significantly more coverage because all iPhones, regardless of AirTag ownership, transmit AirTag data. Tile, on the other hand, only works when people have the tile app installed and (ifaik) running in the background.
Edit: tile, not time
Apple opened up the find my network to third party trackers but I don’t think tile has decided to join it yet. Looks like this brand supports it though: https://chipolo.net/en-us/products/chipolo-card-spot
Apparently, that specific device is also exclusive to the “Find My” network
running in the background.
Even then if you don’t use it enough android will remove its permissions unless you override in the android settings.
Right. Although if you don’t use the iOS app enough and have the default settings, iOS will remove the app and you’ll have to reinstall it. Found that out the hard way with some games on an airplane with no WiFi 😅
tbh i think Samsung’s one is better just because of much larger network of devices
I’m looking forward to the promised Android alternative. It should be coming any day now…
They’ve only been on preorder for half a year…
Has Apple addressed the security issues that Google was holding out for before they released their tracking network?
No idea, but it sure seems like something you’d want handled before you announce and put a physical product up for preorder.
The issue around people being notified that an unknown tracker is following them to stop people stalking. This is for Google’s and Apple’s AirTags. Apple has not yet implemented this into their own devices. It’s not a Google problem, it’s Apple.
Google doesn’t have any trackers. You can’t own them yet.
The current version has a replaceable battery, so I don’t see any reason to upgrade to some other device.
deleted by creator
Maybe if they where cheaper people would be buying them in droves
Last year they were up to $1B sales.
They’re around $25 and priced pretty similarly to Tile an Chipolo. And unlike Tile, they’re actually good at precision tracking outside of your home.
Of all the stuff Apple sells, these things actually seem priced well. They’re like $5 more than the competition, but they have a much broader network.
Samsung ones have a pretty huge network too, especially in the eu
The trouble is Samsung is only for it’s own ecosystem. The Google version should render the Samsung one obsolete.
My bike cost 1000€, the cost of an AirTag is a rounding error when keeping it safe.
Not everyone owns a 1k bike.
No, but I bought the pack of four and it’s nice to have one on my bike, in my car, and in my bag where my laptop and iPad live when I’m traveling.
You can tag your 1k car with it too.
…but not everyone. Yeah yeah 😆
You joke, but I definitely bought a Civic for $950 and drove it a couple years. It burned oil and looked atrocious. But hey, it got me to work. Then I sold it and broke even. 😂
