Hidden iOS 26 Code Hints at New ‘AirTags 2’ Features
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One of the smaller Apple products that many were expecting to see this year were the so-called “AirTags 2” — an update to Apple’s coin-sized trackers that debuted in early 2021.
While that means the current AirTags have been around for more than four years, it’s fair to say that they’re still doing their job pretty well. Many would question whether an update is truly needed, but there’s always room for improvement. Over the past year, there have been several rumors and leaks that suggest Apple is working on the “AirTag 2”, but it’s still anybody’s guess when these will show up.
Unsurprisingly, every report we’ve seen so far suggest this will be a modest update. Physically, the new AirTag is expected to look the same, and there’s a good chance it won’t get a new name; Apple is more likely to just replace the original AirTags and start selling their replacement as the only version, distinguishing the differences only in support documents, like it typically does with nearly every other product except the iPhone.
Under the hood, the new AirTags are expected to get increased range and improvements to safety features that are designed to prevent them from being misused for purposes like stalking and car theft. It’s also likely they’ll get an upgraded ultra-wideband chip, much like we saw in this year’s AirPods Pro 3, to improve the accuracy of Precision Finding.
However, Filipe Esposito at Macworld has found evidence that there could be a few other small improvements in the next AirTag model. While none of these are groundbreaking, they hint at several quality-of-life improvements, including more accurate battery level reporting and a new feature called “Improved Moving.”
While Precision Finding works reasonably well on today’s AirTags as long as they’re standing still, it’s more challenging when an AirTag is moving around. It can also be harder to track an AirTag in a crowded location due to interference from other devices. These changes will almost certainly require a new ultra-wideband chip.
Code in iOS 26 suggests that Apple plans to address both of these issues with a device that’s internally tagged as “2025AirTag.” That also hints that Apple planned to release the new AirTags this year. That could still happen — the AirTags are a small enough product that a December release wouldn’t be out of the question — but it’s more likely they’ve been pushed to next year.
Previous reports have also suggested that Apple plans to make its next AirTags more difficult to tamper with. While the current AirTags will sound an audible alert when they start moving after they’ve been separated from their paired iPhone for a few hours, those who want to abuse the AirTags to track others have found it far too easy to remove the speaker — and we’ve even seen “silent” AirTags being sold in online marketplaces.
It’s not clear how Apple would go about preventing this, but it’s not hard to imagine the new AirTags being designed to disable themselves entirely when tampered with — possibly even by just cracking it open. That would help protect against other hacking methods we’ve seen.
One thing we’re still not expecting to see is a rechargeable battery. The new AirTags will likely still use the same CR2032 lithium coin battery. That keeps the costs and complexity down, and these can be purchased just about anywhere and only need to be changed about once a year — and there are other solutions for those who want extended battery life. A removable battery is also the AirTags best safety feature, since removing it is a guaranteed way to stop an unwanted AirTag from tracking you — and it’s precisely the method Apple recommends for disabling an AirTag.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
