Waiting for an Apple AirTag 2? It could land in 2025 with much better location tracking
If you’ve been thinking about getting an Apple AirTag but are worried that a new version will appear immediately after you hit the buy button, fear not: the latest rumors suggest a sequel won’t arrive until mid-2025 to appear. .
The current AirTag is more than three years old, but… Bloomberg reports that an AirTag 2 – with improved location tracking and a new chip – isn’t expected to arrive until “around the middle of next year.”
Apple is apparently already doing test runs on its new tracker (which is reportedly codenamed B589) with manufacturing partners in Asia. But if you’ve been thinking about buying one of the small tracking disks, it looks like you can do so safely without it being immediately made obsolete by a successor.
It’s been an interesting year for trackers like the AirTag and for third-party trackers like those from Chipolo and Pebblebee. Google started rolling out its new Find My Device network in April, giving Android phones an equivalent of Apple’s crowdsourced Find My network for locating lost devices.
More recently, iOS 17.5 delivered built-in detection for ‘unwanted location trackers’, allowing iPhone owners to detect and locate third-party object trackers (in addition to AirTags). This followed Google and Apple’s agreement in May 2023 to create a joint specification to “combat the misuse of Bluetooth location tracking devices.”
This means tracking devices are making something of a comeback this year, after understandable fears about their misuse a few years ago – but it looks like we’ll have to wait until 2025 before we see a next-generation AirTag.
What can an AirTag 2 bring?
Given that Apple’s current AirTag already has a handy Precision Finding feature (based on Ultra Wideband technology) for precise object tracking, is there anything a successor could improve on?
We have a few ideas. As our Apple AirTag review notes, the design could be better. We found that the disc can easily scuff, and it’s also annoying that you have to buy accessories to attach AirTags to keys and bags. It would be good to see a more robust design and a built-in key ring hole.
The AirTag’s rivals, such as the new Find My Device-compatible options from Chipolo and Pebblebee, also come in a variety of form factors, including slim, wallet-friendly versions. We’d love to see an AirTag equivalent of the latter; After all, it would fit nicely next to the Apple Card.
We’d also like to see an improvement in battery life – the current AirTag’s CR2032 battery lasts about a year before needing to be replaced – and a louder speaker for the beep you hear when you track it down. Another useful feature would be the ability to use an AirTag to locate your iPhone or Watch – there’s no option for that at the moment.
Still, that doesn’t mean the current Apple AirTag isn’t a good buy with a price tag of $29 / £29 / AU$45. And with the AirTag 2 still seeming a long way off, we’re looking to pick up an extra one or two for travel this year .