Apple’s AirTag will take advantage of the U1 Ultrawideband chipset found inside the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
Apple plans to enter a brand new product category with the AirTag, a small item tracker device that lets users locate tagged items like wallets or car keys. Japanese blog Macotakara claims the AirTag will be completely waterproof and will feature magnetic charging technology similar to that of the Apple Watch. The device is thought to compete with Tile, a Bluetooth-enabled device that’s designed to attach to items like keys, wallets, and bags.
The AirTag, as reported by various media outlets, is said to work with the “Find My” app on iOS. It’s being claimed that Apple’s AirTag will take advantage of the U1 Ultrawideband chipset found inside the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. Just to make it clear, ultrawideband signals can travel for a short distance, which makes them suitable for finding objects.
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Apple has been internally working on these AirTags for quite some time. Back in April, 9to5Mac reported that Apple is developing a Tile-like item tracker that will be integrated with the Find My app. This was followed by the discovery of code within the iOS 13.2 update.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also revealed that Apple intends to launch the AirTag that would make it easier to find lost items. Kuo says the Cupertino company will be producing tens of millions of AirTags by the end of the year. The analyst also believes that the AirTag will improve AR applications experience, though the exact details are still unavailable.
Apple is expected to hold an event on March 31, where the company could launch the AirTag accessory. Some analysts, however, believe that the AirTag could be launched alongside the iPhone 12 in September.