FN-GM Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 Just wondering what you guys think about the Apple Airtags? I think they look pretty good. Although maybe a little bulk to put onto my keys so not quite sure I could use them. I am surprised to find you can replace the battery. It would be good if they could use that technology in Wifi iPads. It will help when they are lost outside of an SSID.
paulkerton Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 I think they'll build them into their devices before too long. But it's classic Apple. Invent something new that already existed and charge double for it. Then charge another £29 - £39 for the piece of polyurethane or leather to hold the thing.
Zoom7000 Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 I think they'll build them into their devices before too long. But it's classic Apple. Invent something new that already existed and charge double for it. Then charge another £29 - £39 for the piece of polyurethane or leather to hold the thing. Or you could pay £399 for the AirTag Hermès edition! 🙈
paulkerton Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 Or you could pay £399 for the AirTag Hermès edition! 🙈 What in the actual... Who falls for this?!
rush_tech Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 (edited) What in the actual... Who falls for this?! I imagine its the same people who pay £16,000 for a table https://www.hermes.com/uk/en/product/equilibre-d-hermes-table-large-model-H960186Mv01/ Edited May 11, 2021 by rush_tech
jthompson Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 Or you could pay £399 for the AirTag Hermès edition! 🙈 Those ones are better than the vanilla ones because they use pure style in order to make a lost item stand out in any crowd. No reliance on UWB tech means no battery replacements needed ever.
chazzy2501 Posted May 11, 2021 Posted May 11, 2021 I wonder if apple will build in airtags to future devices.
FN-GM Posted May 12, 2021 Author Posted May 12, 2021 I think they'll build them into their devices before too long. But it's classic Apple. Invent something new that already existed and charge double for it. Then charge another £29 - £39 for the piece of polyurethane or leather to hold the thing. Nobody else has a product that does the same. There are products that do similar.
ZeroHour Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) It would be good if they could use that technology in Wifi iPads. It will help when they are lost outside of an SSID. Pretty sure if you put an ipad into lost mode it will use the same location tech as the airtag (excluding U1) so when it has no internet other iOS devices nearby will report its position as long as its on. Also if I recall newer iphones (not sure about ipads) keep a small reserve of battery for Bluetooth LE to run for a while after allowing other iOS devices to report its position as long as you mark the device lost. The tech and encryption behind Find My is actually pretty interesting and cool: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/06/the-clever-cryptography-behind-apples-find-my-feature/ The biggest limitation for the Airtags for me right now is the lack of family sharing, other family members can turn off the alerts that an airtag is following them but they cant track it, only the person who set up the tag can which is a bit of a pain if you use them on shared car keys. The cynic in me suspects apple wants to sell you 2 for your car keys but it may be something that gets added properly later. Edited May 12, 2021 by ZeroHour
FN-GM Posted May 12, 2021 Author Posted May 12, 2021 Pretty sure if you put an ipad into lost mode it will use the same location tech as the airtag (excluding U1) so when it has no internet other iOS devices nearby will report its position as long as its on. Also if I recall newer iphones (not sure about ipads) keep a small reserve of battery for Bluetooth LE to run for a while after allowing other iOS devices to report its position as long as you mark the device lost. Im going to try this out! The biggest limitation for the Airtags for me right now is the lack of family sharing, other family members can turn off the alerts that an airtag is following them but they cant track it, only the person who set up the tag can which is a bit of a pain if you use them on shared car keys. The cynic in me suspects apple wants to sell you 2 for your car keys but it may be something that gets added properly later. Knowing how Apple operate they will probably add features like this 12 months down the line.
TechMonkey Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 Knowing how Apple operate they will probably add features like this 12 months down the line. Coming in Version 2 or with the new Family subscription.
hardtailstar Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 Or you could pay £399 for the AirTag Hermès edition! 🙈 I imagine its the same people who pay £16,000 for a table https://www.hermes.com/uk/en/product/equilibre-d-hermes-table-large-model-H960186Mv01/ Literally thought that it was the delivery company Hermes with the expensive Airtag holder...... Some joke about it being lost and then turning up broken and cut up
paulkerton Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) Nobody else has a product that does the same. There are products that do similar. To be fair to you, you're correct as Tile costs £10 less per device and has a little hole in it so you can attach it to things without paying out £30 for a piece of plastic to do that. £40 if you want leather! Edited May 12, 2021 by paulkerton
dblight Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) I bought a pack of 4 and they delivered on release day. Haven’t lost my keys or wallet since! Yes the family sharing needs to be sorted both sets of car keys have one attached but only 1 of us can link each to our iCloud even with family sharing. A little bulky for my wallet which I put in the coin pocket but used to it now. I bought the belkin holders for the keys, not as expensive as the Apple ones but still a little annoying they were separate expense. Edited May 12, 2021 by dblight
Primus Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 To be fair to you, you're correct as Tile costs £10 less per device and has a little hole in it so you can attach it to things without paying out £30 for a piece of plastic to do that. £40 if you want leather! He's also right in so far as the Tile only works if someone with the Tile app wanders by your lost device which is far from certain. It's much more likely someone with an iOS device will however. The Tile also doesn't use UWB for precision finding - or anything similar and the version of the Tile which is similar in terms of build quality but isn't quite as good (the Pro which I've had for a few years now) is the same price as the AirTag on Amazon. There's plenty of 3rd party accessories for the AirTag although finding them in stock is quite hard right now - you don't have to pay huge amounts to put it on a keychain. I've got both a Tile Pro which I've had for ages and some AirTags, the AirTags are way better.
paulkerton Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) He's also right in so far as the Tile only works if someone with the Tile app wanders by your lost device which is far from certain. It's much more likely someone with an iOS device will however. I mean that's just utilising the ubiquity of Apple devices. If Tile were to be purchased by Google and the lost device tech integrated into Android, you'd see a similar situation. It's the classic tech company move (Apple aren't the only ones, you see Google and Facebook do this one). If you can't beat them, copy them and hound them out of the market. The Tile also doesn't use UWB for precision finding - or anything similar and the version of the Tile which is similar in terms of build quality but isn't quite as good (the Pro which I've had for a few years now) is the same price as the AirTag on Amazon. Tile have an UWB product on the way and we've known about that for a while: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/05/tile-to-launch-to-launch-a-new-tracker-powered-by-ultra-wideband-technology/ The Pro is currently the same price as a single AirTag, but you're again not factoring in the lack of needing to spend the same again on a first party add-on that should come with the thing. There's plenty of 3rd party accessories for the AirTag although finding them in stock is quite hard right now - you don't have to pay huge amounts to put it on a keychain. I'm arguing they shouldn't be accessories though. If I buy one, I should be able to attach it to something out of the box. If I want a different way to attach it, then thats fine... but the 1st party way of doing it, instantly doubles the price... and let's face it, if you're buying Apple the chances are you're buying first party accessories too. That's kind of the whole shtick isn't it? Why pay premium for a device if you're then spending £3 on a case for the premium thing? Regardless, 4 AirTags, and 4 first party ways to attach them to things will cost you a minimum of £215.00. 4 Tile Pros and ways to attach them to things - £85.00 I've got both a Tile Pro which I've had for ages and some AirTags, the AirTags are way better. For Apple users, perhaps. For iPhone 11 and 12 users, certainly. For The 70% of people who aren't Apple users then they aren't way better. Currently. I'm sure Tile will respond in kind. I think Alphabet should acquire them, in all honesty. Would make sense. Imagine built in Tile lost device support then!? Edited May 12, 2021 by paulkerton
Primus Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 I mean that's just utilising the ubiquity of Apple devices. If Tile were to be purchased by Google and the lost device tech integrated into Android, you'd see a similar situation. It's the classic tech company move (Apple aren't the only ones, you see Google and Facebook do this one). If you can't beat them, copy them and hound them out of the market. Tile have an UWB product on the way and we've known about that for a while: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/05/tile-to-launch-to-launch-a-new-tracker-powered-by-ultra-wideband-technology/ The Pro is currently the same price as a single AirTag, but you're again not factoring in the lack of needing to spend the same again on a first party add-on that should come with the thing. I'm arguing they shouldn't be accessories though. If I buy one, I should be able to attach it to something out of the box. If I want a different way to attach it, then thats fine... but the 1st party way of doing it, instantly doubles the price... and let's face it, if you're buying Apple the chances are you're buying first party accessories too. That's kind of the whole shtick isn't it? Why pay premium for a device if you're then spending £3 on a case for the premium thing? Regardless, 4 AirTags, and 4 first party ways to attach them to things will cost you a minimum of £215.00. 4 Tile Pros and ways to attach them to things - £85.00 For Apple users, perhaps. For iPhone 11 and 12 users, certainly. For The 70% of people who aren't Apple users then they aren't way better. Currently. I'm sure Tile will respond in kind. I think Alphabet should acquire them, in all honesty. Would make sense. Imagine built in Tile lost device support then!? You pays your money and you takes your choice - more competition in the market is a good thing even if you don't like the competing products.
paulkerton Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 You pays your money and you takes your choice - more competition in the market is a good thing even if you don't like the competing products. Well I don't disagree with that in theory. Competition should breed innovation. In theory.
Primus Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 Well I don't disagree with that in theory. Competition should breed innovation. In theory. Usually seems to in tech and to be fair to Apple they've beaten Tile to market with a product that uses UWB.
ZeroHour Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 Just to say Samsung also sell their own airtag that uses samsung phones to find it: https://www.samsung.com/uk/mobile-accessories/galaxy-smarttag-black-ei-t5300bbegeu/
XiJ Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 I bought an AirTag. The idea is sound and I’ve used similar products that didn’t have the features or just didn’t work well. I think Apple have done a decent job balancing security with ‘crowd sourcing’ a find my item. Something tile just cannot do as they don’t have the numbers or the ecosystem. I got the AirTag, tested and once down was a little underwhelmed. Until I lose my expensive sunglasses again and at the point I’ll love the the AirTag should I be able to locate them. I also bought a key ring similar to the belkin ones for £3.49 from Jeff Bezos tat bazaar So, good idea, better than stuff on the existing market, similarly priced and works. Just not an exciting product
DrBeaker Posted May 12, 2021 Posted May 12, 2021 Apple AirTag jailbroken already – hacked in rickroll attack https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2021/05/11/apple-airtag-jailbroken-already-hacked-in-rickroll-attack/
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