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A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

(www.elevationlab.com)
673 points dmd | 2 comments | 18 Dec 24 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.459s | source
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TuringNYC ◴[19 Dec 24 21:42 UTC] No.42465986[source]▶
Nice solution, but the bigger problem is how AirTags can basically be turned off, which makes it poor for many use cases.

Of course, I get it from Apple's perspective, they dont want AirTags to be used to tail others. However, that precludes it from being used for theft tracking.

For example, I use an AirTag on my bicycle. If someone steals the bicycle, they are literally informed "an air tag is following you" https://support.apple.com/en-us/119874

There are a lot of things I'd love to put long-term AirTags on (luggage, snow-blower, childrens' backpacks) but if theft isnt really deterred, then the case for a bulkier AirTag is quite reduced.

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csomar ◴[20 Dec 24 03:36 UTC] No.42468052[source]▶
> Nice solution, but the bigger problem is how AirTags can basically be turned off, which makes it poor for many use cases.

Isn't that too late? If you disabled that AirTag with your phone, you are probably the thief. Now we got you fully I.D.ed.

It seems that the safest bet, for a thief/criminal, is to not take any iPhone (or phone) on him while committing the crime.

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1. TuringNYC ◴[20 Dec 24 12:49 UTC] No.42470666[source]▶
Thanks for this - I never thought that the act of disabling would create a record, but that makes sense! I wonder if that is something law enforcement can track and act on.
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2. electroly ◴[20 Dec 24 17:25 UTC] No.42472962[source]▶
There is no feature that allows the thief to disable the AirTag at all. In the notification for "an AirTag is following you" the link for disabling the AirTag is simply instructions for removing the battery. It's up to the thief to find the AirTag using the audio ping (which, as mentioned elsewhere, you can deactivate by disconnecting the speaker) and their human eyeballs.

Go back to the page you linked -- https://support.apple.com/en-us/119874 -- the bottom of this page has a screenshot of those instructions.