One analyst expects 10 million AirTags to be produced this year

The AirTags will work in conjunction with the Find My app and will rely on the U1 ultra wideband, or UWB chip that was quietly included with the 2019 iPhone models. The chip sends out short distance radio waves using Time of Flight; these radio waves bounce off the subject and return to the phone to help deliver a more precise location where a missing item might be found. The chip might also be used with the CarKey feature expected to arrive in iOS 14; CarKey will allow an iPhone user to open his/her car door and start the engine remotely with the phone. UWB can reportedly locate a tagged item within four inches of its actual location.

A string of code discovered last year revealed some directions for finding a tagged item using AirTags. The code said, “Walk around several feet and move your iPhone up and down until a balloon comes into view.” Leaked images showed a 3D red balloon and a 2D orange balloon that will apparently surface when an AirTags user moves closer to a tagged item. If an item is missing, the tag it is connected to can be put in “Lost Mode.” With this setting enabled, an iPhone user who stumbles across the tag will be able to send an iMessage to the owner to work out a way to send the missing item back to its rightful owner.

Earlier this year, reliable TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo called for the AirTags to be unveiled during the second or third quarter of this year.  At this point, it would appear that he is going to be correct. He also forecasts that 10 million AirTags will be produced before the end of this year.