The Apple AirTags have been rumoured for quite a long time now. While we kept waiting for them to drop sometime in 2020, it never happened. But it looks like we could see them unveiled in March.
The AirTags are essentially Apple’s take on the Tile. They’re a Bluetooth tracking device that can be stuck to an object, like keys, so you can locate it if you need to.
They will reportedly contain a replaceable battery and can be enabled ‘in bulk’. This seems to mean that users will be able to have multiple AirTags available on their Apple account simultaneously.
Renowned tech analyst and leaker, Jon Prosser, has stated on Twitter that the AirTags are indeed still on the way.
“AirTags are still on for March. Haven’t heard of any further delays this time,” Prosser said in a tweet.
AirTags are still on for March.
Haven’t heard of any further delays this time. ????
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) February 12, 2021
He also went onto confirm that we are likely to see the new iPad Pro at the same time — which is the normal refresh period for Apple.
The assumption that the AirTags would appear in 2020 first came from the iOS 14 source code, where they made an appearance.
This theory was further strengthened when Apple accidentally leaked the AirTags on YouTube once in March 2020.
But they never manifested, despite Apple having not one but three virtual product events towards the end of the year. They were gratuitously absent for the Not iPhone Event, the iPhone 12 launch and the M1 chip launch.
Since then, Samsung has beaten Apple to market with its own version of the product, Galaxy SmartTag.
Samsung launched the tags alongside its Galaxy S21 series back in January.
There are two versions of the Galaxy SmartTag — one that uses Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy (LE) and the SmartTag+ which utilises leverages Ultrawide Band (UWB).
You can then track the item through the Samsung Galaxy SmartThings app.
At the present time we don’t know when the SmartTag will come to Australia. There’s been no local pricing or release date announced yet.
So it’s entirely possible that if Apple does unveil the AirTags in March, it could still beat Samsung to the Australian market. Historically, Apple tends to release products really quickly after revealing them, so there’s a good chance this could happen.
Still, we’ll have to see if they actually appear in March first.
Disclosure: the author owns shares in Apple.