Apple’s second-generation AirTag has just arrived, promising a louder chime, a longer reach for precision finding and — something you may not have noticed — battery compatibility the original lacked. Read on for full details of what’s new.
1 Side By Side, Old And New Look The Same
It looks nearly identical to the first-gen model (though it’s very slightly heavier), so those hoping that there might be a redesign with a hole to attach it to a key ring will be disappointed. Not that you’ll have a problem telling them apart if, like mine, almost five years of use has meant the Apple logo on the original is almost invisible now.
2 It Really Is A Lot Louder, With A New Chime
Side by side, when you instruct the Find My app to play a sound, the new item is noticeably louder and the chime is different. It’s the same sort of musical shape but it sounded to me like it’s a slightly higher pitch. Smarter ears than mine have confirmed this — it’s G instead of F.
The greater volume is useful if, for example, the key ring you’re looking for turns out to be in your pocket after all.
3 The New Key Ring Is FineWoven, Not Leather
Apple doesn’t make leather accessories any more but it does continue to have items in its FineWoven material, even if it doesn’t use that for iPhone cases now.
The key ring comes in five colors, black, moss, navy, midnight purple and fox orange. Of these, the first three are quiet shades, the purple a little brighter and fox orange more eye-catching. Since you may want to find the key ring easily, fox orange seems like a good idea.
4 And The Ring Is Engraved
Unlike the ring on the original AirTag, there’s an engraving on the new key ring, which reads, “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in Thailand,” which the keyring that landed in 2021 did not have. The key ring costs $35.
5 It’s Now Compatible With More Batteries Than The Original
This is cool. When the first AirTag was launched, it didn’t work with certain batteries, ones with child-safety coating on them. Those are the ones that have a bitterant that means they taste horrible, so that young children, for instance, don’t want to put them in their mouths.
This was a complaint at the time from some. Now, Apple says that the new AirTag — and more recent iterations of the first-gen model — work with many more batteries. Apple has worked with manufacturers to enhance compatibility.
6 Anti-Stalking Measures Are Unchanged
The first AirTag had limited anti-stalking measures, but this changed as more safeguards were added to make it much more difficult for someone to secrete an AirTag in your bag or clothing without your knowing about it. And those improvements include cross-platform capabilities so Android users can also quick catch on if there’s an errant AirTag nearby, for instance.
7 Precision Finding Works Further And With Apple Watch
Swapping in the secondgeneration Ultra Wideband chip, also seen in the iPhone 17 series, Apple has improved the range of precision finding for the AirTag. This means it’s easier to find them for 50% further away than before.
Additionally, you can now locate a second-generation AirTag with precision finding using an Apple Watch Series 9 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later.