Can I Set Up an AirTag on My iPad?
Yes. You don’t actually need an iPhone to set up an AirTag. It can be configured on any iPad capable of running iPadOS 14.5. This means AirTags are compatible with the iPad mini 4, iPad mini 5, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 3, fifth- through eight-generation iPads, and all iPad Pro models.
Since no iPads have a U1 chip, you won’t be able to take advantage of Precision Finding, but AirTags will otherwise work in the same way as they would with other non-U1-equipped iPhone models.