Perhaps the biggest product in the rumor mill is the potential debut of AirTags, Apple’s long-standing Bluetooth tracking device.
What are AirTags?
The tile locator attaches and helps you find items such as keys, wallets, laptops or even your car. AirTags have been working since 2019, when images hidden in iOS 13 suggest small, flat, circular disks with built-in chips , which could allow someone to locate items when connected to the Apple Find My app.
The rumor cost: $ 39 each.
AirTags is expected to include the same ultra-wideband U1 chip as the iPhone 12, which would make location tracking more accurate than competing devices from companies such as Tile, Samsung and Sony, according to MacRumors.
Why now?
The arrival of AirTags would allow the company to expand its offerings and block users deeper into its ecosystem as it seeks more ways to combat an expected decrease in its hardware revenue.
While accessories for an accessory might sound like a stretch, customers who delay expensive upgrades to their smartphones and tablets may be willing to spend more on lower-cost items. That being said, AirTags may appear as a category of their own, just like AirPods.
Either way, it would be a smart time to launch them, as customers are finally coming out of over a year of lockdown – probably ready to find things that people invariably lose when they’re out of the house.