Apple announced a series of improvements to existing products at its Spring Loaded event in April, from the most powerful iPad to date to a colourful new iMac.
However, alongside these developments was the announcement of a whole new piece of tech – the Apple AirTag, a Bluetooth device that helps location lost devices.
Here’s everything you need to know about the long-rumoured new product, from how much it will cost in the UK to when you can get your hands on one.
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Apple event announcements: All the new products unveiled at Spring Loaded 2021 launch
What are Apple AirTags?
Long-rumoured but finally confirmed, Apple’s AirTag is a new stainless steel accessory for iPhones that helps you to quickly locate whatever it’s attached to, including backpacks, wallets, keys or larger items such as luggage.
AirTag uses a combination of Bluetooth and Apple’s Find My app and network to track and alert you to its location and will rival Tile, which makes Bluetooth-enabled tracking devices.
Each lightweight, circular AirTag contains a speaker to play a noise to help track it down and a CR2032 battery, which Apple promises can be replaced once it’s run its course. It states that the tracker is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use.
Unlike Tile’s stickers, AirTags don’t come with their own adhesive but are designed to be placed inside pockets or bags. To attach to a suitcase or a bunch of keys, you’d need to purchase a separately-sold AirTag accessory loop or keyring.
As well as these, Apple has partnered with Hermès for an array of leather travel accessories. All trackers can be personalised with a free engraving, including text and a selection of 31 emoji when ordered from the Apple Store.
Once set up an Airtag will show up inside the Find My app on the owner’s iPhone, through which they can alert it to play a noise to help them find it.
Those who own an iPhone 11 or more recently released model can take advantage of Precision Finding, which Apple says can more accurately determine the distance and direction to a lost AirTag when it is in range via the device’s camera, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope.
Each individual tag will cost £29, while a pack of four will cost £99. AirTags will go on sale on Friday 30 April, or customers can pre-order them beginning at 1.00pm BST on Friday 23 April.
What else was announced at the Apple event?
- M1 chip in the iPad Pro: After making headlines with the creation of its own silicon M1 processor last year, Apple has decided to transplant the chip into an iPad for the first time. The latest iPad Pro, which comes in 11-inch and 12.9-inch versions, also supports 5G connectivity like last year’s iPhone releases and promises significant leaps in speed, performance and connectivity compared to its predecessor, which went on sale last year.
- New iMacs: The iMac has had a makeover, complete with a new flatter design and a range of bright finishes in a nod to the iconic candy-coloured iMac G3 that was wildly popular in the late 90s. Measuring 11.5mm thick, its 4.5K Retina display measures 24-inches diagonally and sports 11.3m pixels to recreate more than one billion colours to render images more vividly.
- New iPhone colour scheme: A surprise update to the iPhone 12 was unveiled in the form of a vibrant new purple finish, which will go on sale from 30 April.
- Apple TV 4K overhaul: Among the announcements was the latest Apple TV 4K set top box, which has a high frame rate HDR with Dolby Vision and a new A12 Bionic chip to enable improved graphics and faster audio processing and video decoding.
