The expected AirTags 2 are believed to keep the same basic design as the current model
With repeated rumors that a revised AirTag 2 is coming soon, there are also many claims about what will be different — and key areas where AirTags could be improved. Here’s what to expect, and when.
There’s never a guarantee when Apple will release a particular product — other than the iPhone 17 range will be in September — but launches are such a large undertaking that there are always clues. Sometimes it will be new devices in regulatory filings, or this time in code snippets spotted in the developer betas of iOS 26.
Based on those snippets and a very long series of reports from variously reliable sources, AirTags 2 look almost certain to feature:
- Greater Precision Finding range
- Better anti-stalking features
- Improved low battery warnings
It’s presumed that the battery improvement will consist of better warnings of when that battery needs replacing.
Any improvement to the battery will be welcome, though not especially because anyone is unhappy with how long they last. That’s even though rivals such as UGreen with its FineTracker equivalent to AirTag claim twice the life that Apple does from the same battery.
The issue is more that Apple has previously made it harder to know when the battery is running out. Initially there was an icon in the Find My app which at least appeared to give you a solid idea of whether your battery would make it through your vacation.
But then in 2022, Apple removed that icon. Presumably it just wasn’t accurate enough, but after August 2022, you only knew your remaining charge when you got a low battery warning.
Even then, you just got an on-screen notification that the battery was low and you should replace it soon. You could assume you were pushing it, but you don’t know.
The claim now is that AirTag 2 will present more than the one alert, perhaps spaced out to give you at least some better notice that the end is near.
At the same time, it’s possible that the battery warnings are being added because AirTag 2 batteries may not last as long as before. It’s possible that extra features such as the greater range will drain it more, and so we’ll have to re-learn how long we can wait before ordering new batteries.
Greater Precision Finding range
Really the greatest drain on the battery would come from how AirTag 2 is expected to have a much increased Precision Finding range. Find My will direct you to your AirTags from wherever you are in the world, but as you get closer, it’s Precision Finding that takes you the rest of the way.
This is the feature that shows you the direction of your AirTag, plus how near it is in feet.
At present, Precision Finding is able to kick in when you’re within 15 meters of the current AirTag. Because it’s presumed Apple will use the second generation Ultra Wide Band (UWB) chip for this feature, it’s expected that range will increase to 60 meters.
Better anti-stalking features
It’s a curious thing that no one paid any attention to the stalking problems of trackers until Apple released AirTag. Apple actually included far more anti-stalking features than previous tracker firms ever had, and it has added more since.
Even so, stalking remains an appalling problem and it’s thought that Apple is going to add a new hardware feature to help.
Specifically, it’s reported that stalkers have been disabling the speaker on AirTags so that victims do not hear their alert sound. Apple is expected to make it much harder to remove the speaker in AirTag 2, and generally make the device more tamper-proof.
What won’t change with AirTag 2
All the very many rumor sources insist that AirTag 2 will physically remain exactly the same as the original AirTag. That might make it harder for Apple to convey quite so immediately that they have been improved.
But it would also mean that all of the millions of AirTag accessories such as holders and cases, will continue to work with the new model.
There has been a suggestion that the battery might change, although this is veering close to wishful thinking more than expectation or rumor. The possibility is that Apple will switch to a rechargeable battery, which would be better than having to buy new ones every time.
However, since a device this small is hardly going to have wireless MagSafe charging, it would mean users having to have a separate way to recharge. That could be another accessory for Apple and others to sell, or it could just be that users would ignore it and carry on using replaceable ones.
AirTags are an extraordinarily global success in part because they do something that was needed, and they do it better than any rival. But the sheer convenience of them helps too, and so it doesn’t feel likely that Apple would choose to make using them more cumbersome.
What’s more likely, if still chiefly hoped for rather than necessarily expected, is a louder speaker.
The most recent AirTag 2 rumor was the improvement to the battery, which was first spotted by 9to5mac. Its sources also now claim that AirTags 2 will be released in the fall.
That would perhaps mean them being announced alongside the iPhone 17 range in September. Apple is very careful about what it announces then, with the aim of maximizing attention on what it wants to generate the most publicity about.
So even though AirTags and iPhones rather go together, Apple initially launched its tracker in April 2021, alongside the iPad, iMac, and just about everything except the iPhone.
Other rumors have put the AirTag 2 release date much sooner than the fall, though. Bloomberg has previously predicted a mid-2025 release, for instance, although analyst Ming-Chi Kuo missed the ball, and predicted it to hit shelves in early 2025.
