AirTag under the hood
Comparison: Tile Mate, Galaxy SmartTag, Apple AirTag and American quarter. AirTag is 1.5 times thicker than Tile, SmartTag is 2 times thicker than Tile.
Let’s look inside the AirTag with X-ray vision, and then, using a vice and a screwdriver, we will disassemble the case and admire the electronics.
3D rotation of the AirTag X-ray image:
Replaceable battery, which is rare for Apple products:
Battery comparison:
AirTags and SmartTags use 3 volt CR2032, 0.66 Wh (20mm). Tile is a smaller CR1632 with a capacity of 0.39 Wh (16 mm).
Tile and SmartTag can be opened with a screwdriver and a heat gun, AirTags required a vise.
AirTags housing is a speaker.
No hole to hang on your keychain? Do it yourself:
After the operation, the sound volume was not affected.
Wedeo to help you find a safe place to drill:
Pay
Layering
On the first side of the AirTag motherboard is the Bosch Sensortec BMA28x 3-axis accelerometer, which can also be seen in other Apple products, the battery contacts and the voice coil solder points, which work with a magnet.
On the other side:
- Apple U1 Ultra Wideband Transceiver
- Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 Bluetooth Low Energy SoC with NFC Controller
- GigaDevice GD25LE32D 32MB Serial NOR flash
- Maxim Integrated MAX98357B Class AB Digital Audio Amplifier
- Texas Instruments TLV9001 1 MHz Rail-to-Rail I / O Operational Amplifier
- ON Semiconductor FPF2487 overvoltage protection load switch
- DC / DC Step Down Converter, 300 mA Texas Instruments TPS62746
- Most likely ON Semiconductor DC-DC converter
- Probably Texas Instruments DC-DC converter
Conclusion
- AirTag does not look like a “first version”, the device was worked on for a long time
- Apple deviated from its principles and made a replaceable battery
- There is no convenient keyhole, but it can be drilled at your own risk
- The privacy question is open: “Can I turn off the speaker and use AirTag for tracking?”
