If you were holding out hope for a second generation of Apple’s AirTags, already one of the best key finders out there, it sounds like you’re going to have to wait a little longer. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, mass production on the AirTag 2 has now been pushed back to 2025 — the second such delay we’ve heard about so far.
Back in August, Kuo said AirTag 2 production could begin in the fourth quarter of 2024. That would mean the new trackers would arrive at the end of 2024 or early in 2025. Kuo also claimed that Apple could be working on a new ecosystem of spatial computing devices, which would use the Vision Pro headset as a central hub for other relevant devices — AirTag 2 included.
Prediction update:The mass production schedule for AirTag 2 has been postponed to 2025. https://t.co/TF2uSuSEvXOctober 18, 2023
It isn’t clear what the cause of this latest delay might be, and Kuo isn’t particularly forthcoming with the details. Then again, if the Vision Pro headset is set to be the “core” of Apple’s new spatial computing ecosystem, then it has us wondering whether the cause could be related to Vision Pro production.
Then again, this delay may have nothing to do with the headset itself, and could be related to a whole bunch of other factors. Like Apple prioritizing production capacity for more important devices, or hurdles in the development of the AirTags 2 themselves.
We don’t know a great deal about the second generation of Apple trackers, other than they may be arriving in the next couple of years. There’s been no word on any potential design changes or additional features.
If Kuo is right about the Vision Pro acting as a spatial computing hub, we may see some integration with the headset and the AirTags’ augmented reality location feature — powered by the UWB chip. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll be able to use the Vision Pro to hunt lost AirTags in AR, which would offer a much better field of view than a smartphone screen.
There’s also the new U2, a second generation ultrawideband chip, that’s just been released inside the iPhone 15. According to Apple, this new chip greatly enhances the Find My feature, with the new Precision Finding mode helping you track down friends in crowded areas — as well as offering better range. These features require a U2-enabled device, like iPhone 15 or Apple Watch 9, to work, so releasing a U2 (or U3) AirTag is the next logical step.
But we’re just going to have to wait and see what Apple actually does with the AirTags going forward. And given the increasing number of reported delays, it’s not like we have much choice in the matter.
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