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AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

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Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#141

Post by ASalazarMX »

adamlett wrote: post #115
myself248 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when phones were built to survive the outside world without a case, I never put cases on my phones. The whole Nextel and Nokia and Blackberry era, not a one. They looked a bit worn from a few years each in my pocket with my keys, but they all worked fine, and they'd all survive a drop to the floor. Today the only phone I'd trust to survive a naked drop would be a Unihertz Titan, but until there's an AOSP ROM for…

Back when phones were built to survive the outside world without a case You mean: Back when phones had screens made of plastic instead of glass. And yes, sure, that does make them more likely to survive a drop, but also means the screen becomes a scratch magnet. That of course is the right compromise when the screen is tiny and the pixels are enormous, but not so much when it’s the other way around.

One of the worst ideas was putting glass on the back, doubling the chance of cracking it.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#143

Post by theonemind »

atorodius wrote: post #138
theonemind wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one needs them. I have no idea why Apple made them.

I bought one for my key, and am very happy.

Honestly, they look very useful to me. I'm just being sarcastic to the grandparent humblebrag. I don't lose my keys, but I'm so bad at keeping track of them I keep them on a lanyard and hang them around my neck (which is why I don't lose them.)

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#144

Post by knolan »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #132
mirths wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The AirTag transmits every 2 seconds. The iPhone should scan every 2 minutes for 2 seconds in order to capture the AirTag. BLE scanning costs about ~20mW. So the average power consumption is 20mW * (2sec / 120sec) = 0.3mW. Over an entire day, it's 7mWh. The iPhone 12 battery is 10000mWh. Conclusion: it's neglibile.

Reporting this data home also costs power. It's rather pathetic how Apple restricts user's right to use full capabilities of their devices (like restricting running apps in the background) to 'increase their battery life' while simultaneously be perfectly fine to use that power for their own benefit. I wonder can a user disable this airtag reporting feature if he doesn't own a single airtag and doesn't want to partic…

You can disable it from the Find My settings for iCloud in your phone.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#145

Post by davidmurdoch »

perryizgr8 wrote: post #107
davidmurdoch wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People buy 100k cars and don't cover the outer surfaces with protective plastic Yes, they do. Look up Paint Protection Film. Ceramic coating is also very commonly used to protect the car's paint, plastics, and glass.

Is it as common as putting a case on your phone? I doubt it. My point is that Apple and others can easily make far more durable phones for the price they ask, and not need literally everyone to use a case.

I'm not sure how common it is in general, but for people who care about their car's paint it is common, and I imagine people who buy $100k+ cars are probably the type that have their cars detailed regularly by a professional.

Doesn't matter though. It's not in phone manufacturers' best interests to make durable phones. They need to make trendy phones, as that's what the majority have voted for (with their wallets). And Apple users have it the worst, as the lock-in leaves them with no alternative phone manufacturers).

Even with protective cases many flagship phones won't be very useable after 2 years anyway, as the battery life decreases, the OS and apps do more and more things, and flash storage starts to fail/slow.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#146

Post by audunw »

threepio wrote: post #25

What are the practical ramifications of Apple harnessing every existing iPhone as an AirTag discovery device in the Find My network? (I think it's awful from a privacy and device-ownership standpoint, but let's leave that aside.) For instance, because physics is real, it must take some amount of battery power & data transfer to collect information about nearby AirTags. Suppose I walk into Disneyland on a summer weeke…

I’m assuming AirTags just send out Bluetooth advertising packets. Your phone is continuously listening for those anyway to detect devices you own, like your watch and headphone. So that part is “free”.

The power required to process the packet is negligible.

Sending the data back to Apple could be more significant. But I guess that’s only of the AirTag is “lost”, and probably as part of a bundle of data sent regularly anyway, probably when asking Apple servers about new notifications. What takes power is waking up from sleep to send data. If the CPU is already awake, taking a few extra microseconds to transmit a few more bytes of data is nothing.

So really, I don’t think the energy and data it’s using is anything to be concerned about. It’s a drop in the bucket.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#147

Post by DanBC »

> All three trackers open up with finger power—no other tools required! That said, the AirTag is by far the most difficult,

I'm a little bit uncomfortable about this, because it gives access to a coin cell battery.

People under-estimate how dangerous batteries can be.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6134a1.htm

> From 1997 to 2010, an estimated 40,400 children aged <13 years were treated in hospital emergency departments (EDs) for battery-related injuries, including confirmed or possible battery ingestions. Nearly three quarters of the injuries involved children aged ≤4 years; 10% required hospitalization. Battery type was reported for 69% of cases, and of those, button batteries were implicated in 58%. Fourteen fatal injuries were identified in children ranging in age from 7 months to 3 years during 1995–2010. Battery type was reported in 12 of these cases; all involved button batteries.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#148

Post by theonemind »

noelherrick wrote: post #91
pentae wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an 11 pro without a case on it and just tried replicating what you're describing and I can't do it. It pivots at most 1-2mm laterally to the left when i'm tapping hard on the left side of the screen which is barely noticeable. When I tap normally (a bit softer) or swipe it doesn't even move. I'm no fanboy but i'm amazed that out of all the things you could critique about Apple it would be this one.

I can't believe you're serious. Since the iPhone X, a screen replacement has been such a significant percentage of the cost it's not worth it. And if you damage the back glass, Apple will just replace the phone. Before the X, I was a bare phone user. After that, there is no way I would leave my phone exposed. The only way I could justify that danger would be if I could swallow a $1500 expense every other week. Why? F…

The entire paradigm is broken by design if you have to buy it and slap it into a case. With first party engineering, they could make a phone that doesn't need a case..it would be bulkier, maybe less pretty, but better than any third party case could ever be, and a better result than buying the pretty phone and slapping a big ugly case on it, because they put their resources into designing the product properly for its intended end use instead of leaving the end user to crappy hacks to cover up inadequate design.

Personally, I just won't go there. If it's too expensive not to put a case on, it's too expensive for me to own.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#149

Post by audunw »

GeorgeTirebiter wrote: post #128

Do people actually need to use these things? Maybe I'm weird, but when young, I had drilled into me Benjamin Franklin's "A place for Everything, and Everything in its Place". If I can't remember where I put something, then I suspect Bigger (medical) Problems are on the horizon... (!)

I’ve never lost my car keys, but I plan to get airtags for them because replacing key fobs can be insanely expensive now a days.

I wish AirPods acted as airtags. Those are the only other things I’m kind of worried about losing. Mostly because we have small kids.

Maybe I’ll hide one in our bikes as a low effort way to track them in case of theft.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#150

Post by dpkonofa »

Exmoor wrote: post #27
caturopath wrote: post #18

The lack of loophole was disorienting, but then I went and looked up how they want you to attach it, and the hangtag accessories look so pretty https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apple-introduces-airt... -- things like the appearance and the sound quality really show a commitment to making polished products rather than practical ones. I've been fairly negative on Apple for a few years and they still need to pull…

> It's hilarious to a certain extent that they built the thing smaller than all the competition and bulk it up with a wad of leather anyhow. That's essentially how I feel when I see the "Our thinnest iPhone ever" slide knowing that 95% of iPhone owners put it in a bulky case. That said, that's not unique to Apple and the phone is at least usable without a case.

I know it means nothing but I'm in the 5%. I've never had a case on my iPhone and I've owned every other generation since the original (I always skip generations for my devices since they started doing the incremental S versions). I prefer things without cases and the AirTags are going to be no exception. I'm going to throw them into a pocket or put them into an already existing spot so I like that it's thin.
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