Apple has quietly pasted special location tokens into some of its new iPhones, which will allow you to unlock your car and find lost objects through walls – the latter thanks to the $ 29 AirTags announced today – but unfortunately , you won’t find that chip in the new iPad Pro based on the M1 or the long-awaited new Siri remote for Apple TV.
Apple has confirmed that the U1 locator chip, which uses ultra-wideband (UWB) radio pulses to broadcast the exact location, will not appear on the Siri remote. We are waiting for the final bulletproof confirmation about the iPad Pro, but it also does not appear on the product page, in the specifications sheet or in the press release. Last year’s iPad Pro didn’t include a U1 chip either.
Does Apple expect us to stick AirTags to our iPads and TV remotes to get rid of the always greedy couch jaws? It’s unlikely, but the company has been pretty picky about the devices that get the chip so far. You can find it on iPhone 11 and newer versions (but not on iPhone SE) and Apple Watch Series 6 (but not on Apple Watch SE), but we’re pretty sure it didn’t go for any iPad or MacBook that have have been announced since the introduction of the chip in September 2019.
Theoretically, Apple could build an ecosystem in which any Apple device can easily find any other Apple device (not to mention Samsung’s UWB devices, which is also deeply invested in technology and has its own type AirTag). But for now, you’ll be using your phone primarily to find AirTags, not other gadgets, except maybe the next car.