Apple gets AirTag (almost) right
Last Tuesday in the middle of April 2021, Apple presented to the public their “Spring Loaded” event. We got to see brand new iMac’s coming in a range of colours with the new M1 chip, alongside a not-so-brand-new iPhone 12 in a (pretty horrid) purple. But there was one product that caught most of the attention, besides the date of the announcement itself; the Californian giant never really has a precedence for hardware or software announcements in April.
I’m really excited about AirTag. Sure, physical tracking devices are nothing new. Apple, like many product ‘innovations’, are no longer the incumbent (ever heard of Tile?)
But it’s the underlying technology and price that makes AirTag’s, to me and im sure many others, highly desirable. The design, however, does make me think twice.
First, the need. And well, I don’t think we need to dwell on the reasoning behind such a product. I’m sure that if you asked a representative sample of target UK/US adults, an overwhelming proportion of them would be “likely” to consider a physical tracking device, to put in their wallet or purse, handbag or keyring, ceteris parabus (i.e. keeping factors surrounding its price, design etc equal and out of the equation). Apple’s product research teams would have run both qualitative and quantitative market sizing and research projects to arrive at the product idea itself, alongside acknowledging the existence of Tile; there simply is a market for these.
And so we have AirTag. Leveraging Bluetooth technology, the tracker works within the realms of the “Find My” OS application, to simply become another ‘device’ you can track, alongside your iPhone, iPad and Macbook. All your Apple devices, in one place; simple. The “Precision Finding” feature is a very nifty visual cue to locate the device (the accuracy of this feature will no doubt be put through its paces), alongside a speaker to compliment this with audio. And as expected, it has Siri integration.
What is incredibly clever is how the device should compensate for its Bluetooth range. AirTag’s have a suspected range of c. 800m, meaning that if you’ve left your AirTag, say, at the gym miles away from you and your other Apple devices, you cannot directly track your AirTag (as it is out of range). However, AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the “Find My” network, that are not necessarily your own. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. Apple’s ecosystem of hundreds of millions of devices, located all around the world, overcome AirTag’s physical Bluetooth limitations. Expect this to be more effective in urban areas vs. rural ones, but needless to say, this is impressive and in theory, it should work more effectively than Tile’s “Find Far Away” feature, given the number of devices in circulation.
Then there is the price. At $/£29 per AirTag, or a bundle offer of $/£99 for 4 (making it roughly $/£25 per AirTag), it seems incredibly reasonable. I can definitely think of 4 things I’d attach an AirTag too; my keys, my wallet, my car and my bag. Plus, there appears to be no ‘Apple markup’. In fact, the equivalent Tile ‘Pro’ tracker is $34.99, meaning Apple is actually cheaper than its competitor.
But there’s a catch; the design.
Sure, the batteries are replaceable and Apple say they will last over a year. But look at the design. Notice anything missing?
Yup, there’s no hole. Apple have forgone adding a hole to the design, to enable AirTag’s to be, for example, added to a keyring directly. And this is of course by design. You’ll notice, as the picture at the top of this article alludes to, a lot of Apple’s marketing material includes their own keyring holder, the cheapest of which the “AirTag Loop” is £29; the same price as the device itself. The ‘Apple tax’ everybody.
Thankfully, third-party holders are available and Apple themselves are reselling belkin ones for under £12. But its the premise that is more frustrating; be on the side of the customer and add a hole.
In addition, the circular nature of the AirTag actually means that it is unlikely to fit into my card holder perfectly. I would definitely like to see an equivalent to Tile’s “Slim” tracker in the near future.
Nevertheless, I’ve ordered 4 AirTag’s and a couple of third-party keyring holders. It’s just a shame that such a simple product, with such a demand, cannot escape from Apple’s desire to monetise against deliberate poor design.
At least my iPhone doesn’t have an Apple case.
#Read.Reflect.Respond
