“If you’ve been hoping for a second-generation AirTag”
People are clamoring for the second generation of a Bluetooth luggage tracker?
this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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Remember this is Apple we're talking about. Gen 2 will introduce additional form factors and fanboys will call it "game changing", "amazing", and god knows what else.
Air tag pro, in our newly invented color "basically black"
"Now with the iStalk+ monthly service!"
For only $50/month disable tracker detection on your trackers!
"it's our most AirTag ever"
New form factor you say?
Credit card sized trackers are handy for wallets.
Revolutionary!
Honestly, there aren’t a lot of credit card sized trackers with a good tracking. Chipolo recently launched one with Find My support, but from what I can tell, most other credit card trackers are on pretty small networks.
I use Tile's personally.
I was using those for the better part of a decade. Cut over to the AirTags recently. The tracking network is night and day.
If Google’s rumored tracker launches as expected this year, and Android is also has a core tracking service that doesn’t require a third party app install, Tile’s days are numbered.
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Next gen will be a square with rounded edges. Oh and the pro version will come in dark gray! But personally I prefer the round ones so I‘ll wait for the 3rd generation.
You don’t want the AirTag2 Pro? It’s titanium.
For a lot of Apple users it's about flaunting that you have the latest toy. A multi year old device is not a good status symbol.
OK, well… What would people want in a second generation AirTag anyway that couldn’t be addressed with software updates? Who, other than profit-hungry shareholders, can even see a need for a second generation AirTag? The original works just fine.
Smaller. Thinner.
Faster. Stronger.
Work it harder. Make it better.
Only thing I could see is making them somewhat harder to tamper with and sealed with a rechargeable battery.
They fit on the Apple Watch charger exactly. A lot of people assumed they were originally supposed to be rechargeable.
I don’t know how that could possibly been seen as an “upgrade”.
Yeah, it’s a stretch for sure.
That said, because the tracking network is way broader than the other BT trackers, so stalkers love use and mod these little things. And they’re very un-Apple like, in that they’re easy to open up.
Stalking has been the one thing that AirTags constantly get slammed for in the press about. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sold an updated tracker that was sealed, packed full of resin, and marketed as “more secure.”
It could be used to make the device completely waterproof.
There are plenty of waterproof devices with replaceable batteries.
The idea you have to seal in the battery (and the device goes to landfill instead of getting a replacement) is a myth.
Of course it can be made waterproof with a replaceable battery, but would you trust your grandma to swap such a battery so that it stays waterproof?
Would you want to be the customer support for a device like that with a billion users? The amount of idiots failing to close the case properly and drowning their device is staggering, and the idiots are usually the ones who call CS to complain…
EU objects. The replaceable battery regulation kicks in 2025 and I believe it will apply to devices like AirTag.
I kinda hope the next gen ones have a stronger nearby find feature. I love the feature but I still have to be within about 5 ft of it and practically have line of sight i imagine that cant be resolved with simple software updates
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Tile works on both platforms
Wile true, AirTag has significantly more coverage because all iPhones, regardless of AirTag ownership, transmit AirTag data. Tile, on the other hand, only works when people have the tile app installed and (ifaik) running in the background.
Edit: tile, not time
Apple opened up the find my network to third party trackers but I don’t think tile has decided to join it yet. Looks like this brand supports it though: https://chipolo.net/en-us/products/chipolo-card-spot
Apparently, that specific device is also exclusive to the “Find My” network
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Tiles are fine for stuff around the house, but if you leave something out in the wild, that’s where they shit the bed. Tile’s tracking network is dependent upon people willingly installing the Tile app. Apple’s FindMy network was deployed via an OS release that most iPhones auto updated to.
Google is about to follow Apple’s lead and bake something into Android. Once that happens, Tile is up shit creek. They will have the worst tracking network on both iOS and Android.
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tbh i think Samsung's one is better just because of much larger network of devices
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The current version has a replaceable battery, so I don’t see any reason to upgrade to some other device.
Maybe if they where cheaper people would be buying them in droves
Last year they were up to $1B sales.
They’re around $25 and priced pretty similarly to Tile an Chipolo. And unlike Tile, they’re actually good at precision tracking outside of your home.
Of all the stuff Apple sells, these things actually seem priced well. They’re like $5 more than the competition, but they have a much broader network.
Samsung ones have a pretty huge network too, especially in the eu
The trouble is Samsung is only for it's own ecosystem. The Google version should render the Samsung one obsolete.
My bike cost 1000€, the cost of an AirTag is a rounding error when keeping it safe.
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