Ah the AirTags. It’s crazy how such a small object can really change our lives. This 3 centimeter diameter pellet contains 3 technologies: NFC, Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband. A small battery allows 1 year of autonomy. All in an IP67 certified metal shell, which allows AirTags to withstand rain and even submersion under water.
Ok, but what is it for? To precisely locate any object. Virtually, an AirTag transforms almost any object into a connected object. An AirTag slips into a wallet, fits in a backpack, hangs on keys … in short, it fits everywhere. Two minutes of configuration later on an iPhone (the time to give a name and associate an emoji to the machine), the AirTag is ready to use.
Usually sold at 119 €, the 4 AirTags cost you only 104 € on Amazon.
Rest assured, the AirTags is not connected to the internet, it does not suck all the location data of your objects to give them to Apple. Everything happens between the AirTag and your iPhone (or Watch … or iPad … or Mac). If you lose your keys, all you have to do is pull out your cell phone to either ring them or follow an ultra-precise arrow that will lead you straight to the lost object, to the nearest centimeter. Everything works in Bluetooth, a few tens of meters from you. In one operation on your smartphone or in a request to Siri, you get your hands on your keys.
If you have to look further than your house or apartment (if your wallet has been forgotten somewhere for example), there is a “lost” mode which shows you the last location where this object was last spotted … by any Apple device. It’s pretty crazy. A passerby with an iPhone just has to pass your AirTag in “lost” mode and you will receive a notification with an accurate GPS location. Yes, it even helps find a thief. All while protecting your data.
Every time Apple comes in with a new product, packs of detractors don’t even try to understand it and keep repeating that it’s just a useless gimmick … until this “gimmick “comes into everyone’s life.
To take just the most recent examples, AirPods have been mocked a lot. Who doesn’t remember the “ridiculous, they’ve got cotton buds in their ears” thoughts. Or even pictures of people cutting the wire from their headphones with scissors to make jokes about the price of the product. Today, AirPods are a huge hit, and even Android users are roaming the streets with wireless headphones.
For the Apple Watch, it was the same. First, she was seen as a gimmick. Today, Apple is the biggest seller of watches in the world. Each year, there are more Apple Watches sold than watches produced by all Swiss watchmakers combined. You can check, this is real info.
In short, it’s always the same thing. Before the technology is better understood and exceeds the circle of famous “early adopters”, it is laughed at. Then, when people see that they can simplify their life very simply with a kind of keychain, they will start buying AirTags en masse.
