It’s hard to tell the difference between Apple second generation AirTag and the almost five-year-old original just by looking at them. In fact, the only way to tell is the many scratches on my old tracker, taken from all the years of being attached to my keyring, which lives in my pocket.

While the price is still $29, Apple’s latest tracker packs some core upgrades. the new AirTag has a second-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) chip that extends its Precise Finding range by up to 50 percent, though it requires an iPhone 15 or newer to do so. It’s also apparently 50 percent louder and has a new, higher-pitched chime. However, there is no keyring hole.

Apple/Engadget

Apple has improved its Bluetooth tracker in almost every way, making it more powerful and expanding its detection range.

Pros

• Precise Search is very useful
• Louder and easier to listen to
• Same price as the original AirTag

Cons

• It still lacks a keyring hole
• Apple’s AirTag accessories are very expensive

The new AirTag looks… same. This may be the most minimal hardware design Apple has ever done, with no buttons or ports, just a company logo on one side. It is made from a combination of a stainless steel plate and a (now 85-percent recycled) plastic enclosure. It’s like a thick coin, a little bigger than a quarter, and fits in any small pocket or purse. The battery will be replaced by rotating the backing offbut it’s still so sturdy that I never felt in danger of it falling by accident.

Apple’s accessories to attach the AirTag to your keys are more expensive than the tracker itself. However, compared to when the original tracker launched, there is now a large collection of third-party options from the likes of Mophie, Belkin and more, most of which are more reasonably priced at around $15. A $35 keyring for a $29 tracker is a very tough sell, Apple.

Setting up a new AirTag is the same effortless as its predecessor. Remove the plastic tag, connect the battery, and a notification will pop up on your nearby iPhone. You can name it, assign it to something and it will join your list of discoverable Apple hardware.

I tested the range of the new AirTag, and if anything, the 50 percent increase in Precision Finding range is a conservative estimate. Naturally, tracking can be affected by building structure, walls, lack of nearby Find My network devices and other interference, but the next-generation AirTag’s “nearby” screen always showed up on my phone when I was about 80 feet away. The older tracker, however, required me to be 30-40 feet away to do the same. The benefit of Precision Finding is limited in the debut AirTag, as its range is too small — especially in busy environments. Today’s hardware upgrades make it really useful. The new AirTag is also faster to connect and more responsive to my movements and sudden turns, thanks, I hope, to the new ultra-wideband chip.

You can also use newer Apple Watches (Series 9, Ultra 2 and up) with accurate location detection. After updating her Apple Watch Series 11 to the latest software, my colleague Cherlynn Low reported that finding the new AirTag was just like an iPhone. He found it a little counter-intuitive to first have to add the Find My shortcut to the watch’s Control Center instead of going to the Find My Items app to do it, but in the end, once he did that, it mirrored the existing setup for Precision Finding on iPhones.

Apple also redesigned the AirTag’s speaker assembly, which it says makes sounds 50 percent louder. Possibly the most effective audio upgrade is a higher-pitched chime that can easily be heard over ambient noise and in busy public areas. I heard it ringing from the other side of the locker room at my gym, while inside a locker, because of the music playing in the background. My old AirTag was inaudible until a few feet away from my locker. I always thought the sound of the original AirTag was a little too low for something you’re looking for urgently. (I like being able to adjust the tone, though.)

It’s the Find My network that makes AirTag shine. Apple’s massive footprint of over a billion devices, from iPhones to Macs, continues to offer a range of tracking and more precision than GPS and Bluetooth alone. If anything, this network has been built even further since the launch of the first Apple tracker.

Since we tested the first AirTag, Apple has added many new features, mostly through iOS updates, that expand the utility and versatility of its trackers. In iOS 17, you can share AirTag through Family Sharing. In iOS 18.2, Share Item Location allows you to share your tracking information with third parties (such as airlines or train companies), improving the chances of finding an AirTag.

There are also subsequent safety upgrades, including the extension of anonymous tracker alerts to Android devices without the need to install an app. Apple has also reduced the time it takes an AirTag to emit a sound when separated from its owner, moving the interval to a random range between 8 and 24 hours. At launch, it is a three-day duration.

packing

Do you need a new AirTag? While improved in every way, it’s the same device. However, AirTag’s simplicity and ease of use is second to none when it comes to Bluetooth trackers. If you already own an AirTag for your keys or wallet, upgrading to the second-gen iteration and repurposing the old one to track, say, your luggage, makes a lot of sense. You will get more accurate location tracking and sensing for your small item, while you can reduce the anxiety of your bag if your suitcase does not arrive at your destination.

There is no doubt that the second generation AirTags have been improved, and thankfully, upgrading to new capabilities does not come at a high cost.