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A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

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Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#51

Post by Spivak »

avree wrote: post #47
dmd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My amplifier and speakers date from the 70s.

Do they run a proprietary Apple software, and have NFC and UWB inside them?

When the software is fixed we're back to thinking of the object as a single piece of hardware. My Gamecube and Xbox 360 have been working for (nearly) 20 years now.

Unless there's a known failure mode in these devices that gets worn down over time you should probably expect them to outlive you. The worst you'll probably get is corrosion from the AA batteries in the pack.

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#53

Post by tpetry »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #29
jerlam wrote: post #4

Not a bad price, but it does require an existing Airtag. Ten years is a very long time in tech. I wouldn't be confident that the Airtag protocol will be functioning in 2035, and there are already rumors of a new Airtag and possibly a newer protocol coming up.

If Apple kills existing Airtags any time soon they effectively kill the product line. So they won’t.

Its really easy for them, and this also in line how they would operate:

Add a new Airtag v2 protocol to the next iPhone and sell new Airtags only using that protocol. Why should you buy them? They could have different improvements you would like.

Start deprecating Airtag v1 in 3-4 years - and only sell new ones. There are now 3-4 iPhone generations that can handle the new version.

The next iPhone in 6-7 years doesn't support Airtags v1 anymore as it is obsolete now for many years.

Voila, they killed Airtags v1 in less than 10 years without killing the entire product line by switching to a new version. Is that unrealistic? No, thats their normal way how they deprecate stuff. It still works but only with old hardware or by not getting new updates anymore (iOS, macOS).

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#55

Post by riffic »

duxup wrote: post #48

At 10 years I kinda wonder what the odds your AA batteries become problem occasionally (leaking, etc) long before the Airtag... although they are Lithium batteries.

are lithium batteries known to expand or catch fire in the AA form factor?

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#56

Post by drdaeman »

Are AirTags actually useful for anti-theft purposes?

I threw one in the trunk of my car (just in case - I ordered a 4-pack and I had a spare one), and every single time I drive somewhere it chirps loudly when I'm exiting my driveway, making its presence immediately obvious without any delays, and despite my phone being with me in the car.

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#57

Post by hiatus »

Zababa wrote: post #45
fragmede wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's not the part that seems nonsensical. it's the idea that a stalker wouldn't just pull out the speaker.

Most criminals are dumb. Anything that makes their job easier can increase the crime rate/efficiency of their criminal activities. I'm pretty sure stalking with devices increased after the Airtag was released.

Even android will notify you if you are walking around with an airtag in your pocket.

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#58

Post by mdawwg »

Cool idea. I actually just recently changed my air tag battery for the first time. The FindMy app notified me when the battery was at 30%.

Personally I'm able to risk the battery dying since the tag is on an inexpensive item I lose frequently, but I understand the annoyance of replacing the battery often.

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#59

Post by kube-system »

smileybarry wrote: post #41
saturn8601 wrote: post #25

Any chance that the AirTag could have a software memory leak that would normally be masked by cutting power once a year? Its possible right? The code must be written in something low level like C. Would be kinda funny if 10 years from now the author gets his stuff stolen again and then discovers said memory leak crashed the Airtag 9 years ago. As Elon Musk likes to say: "The most ironic outcome is the most likely" .…

AirTags get updates regularly, so they'd probably get power-cycled sooner than that.

They're not being updated any more frequently than they are already reporting their battery status, are they?

Re: A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

#60

Post by OutOfHere »

drdaeman wrote: post #56

Are AirTags actually useful for anti-theft purposes? I threw one in the trunk of my car (just in case - I ordered a 4-pack and I had a spare one), and every single time I drive somewhere it chirps loudly when I'm exiting my driveway, making its presence immediately obvious without any delays, and despite my phone being with me in the car.

Samsung tracker doesn't have this silly problem.
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