AirTag 2, the second-generation item tracker, tipped for mid-2025 release
Back in October, none other than TF International's Ming-Chi Kuo said that the second-generation AirTag item tracker would start mass production during the fourth quarter of this year. The highly accurate Apple analyst was telling us that the next version of the AirTag will hit the marketplace in 2025. Additionally, Kuo said at the time that Apple was planning on building an ecosystem around the spatial computing capabilities of the Vision Pro and AirTag 2 would be integrated into this new platform.
Today, another Apple insider threw his 2 cents into the AirTag 2 ring. That would be Bloomberg's chief Apple correspondent Mark Gurman who wrote a bit about the second-gen item tracker in today's Power On newsletter. According to Gurman, the new AirTag will have a code number of B589 and the product will be available in the middle of next year. The tech giant is said to be currently doing test runs of the next-gen AirTag with its Asian manufacturing partners.
This is all interesting, but what can we expect in the way of new and improved features for the AirTag2? Gurman says to expect Apple to pack the next AirTag with a new chip that does a better job of location tracking.
The second-generation AirTag item tracker is expected to launch in the middle of next year
Since the release of the current AirTag back in April 2021, the device has had some bad press thanks to the creativity of some criminals who use the AirTag for malicious reasons. For example, car thieves have been known to hide an AirTag on a car they want to steal. After tracking the car throughout the day, during the dark of night the vehicle is stolen. Others have used the AirTag to stalk people.
In the just released iOS 17.5 update, Apple added a new Cross-Platform Tracking Detection feature that will notify an iPhone user if it detects a rogue Bluetooth item tracker not registered to the iPhone owner moving along with him regardless of which mobile operating system the tracker is paired with.
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