Apple’s first object tracker, the AirTag, was introduced in 2021. Now, a reliable report suggests that the second-generation AirTag has moved to manufacturing tests with an added focus on privacy measures. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently shed light on the biggest hardware upgrade destined for the AirTag 2.
According to Gurman, the new object tracker will feature a more powerful UWB chip, which is a short-range radio technology that enables spatial awareness. This tech allows Precision Finding to provide accurate distance and direction guidance for object tracking. The current iteration of Precision Finding provides visual cues, sound, and haptic cues to help users locate misplaced gadgets.
The new UWB chip will reportedly triple the location-finding range of the current chip, which offers a range of 10 meters (30 feet). This means the minimum location-finding range for the AirTag 2 will be around 30 meters. The improved UWB chip is expected to enhance Precision Finding on both the AirTag and iPhone devices.
Additionally, Apple has reportedly modified the internal design to make it more difficult to tamper with the speaker assembly. This change aims to deter malicious activities like stalking and theft. In 2022, “silent AirTags” with their speaker kit removed were found online, making them harder to track without the beeping sound produced by the onboard speaker.
Source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-airtag-2-new-uwb-chip-higher-range-report