2025 may be the year we finally see Apple’s second generation AirTags, hopefully with a bunch of upgrades and improvements. But there’s one change that nobody really saw coming, and it might be a big help for preventing AirTag stalking — speaker protection.
According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple is set to make it more difficult for people to remove speakers in AirTag 2. This could be an invaluable tool in the fight against AirTag stalking. Simply because the AirTag speakers are very important for actually hunting down any rogue AirTags that may be following you.
As Apple has rolled out new features to detect rogue AirTags and keep people safe from stalking, the speaker has become more and more important. Phones are now capable of detecting when an unknown AirTag seems to have been following someone around, but it can’t track down their exact location that easily. That’s where the speaker comes in.
By forcing a rogue Airtag to make a noise, people are able to find the trackers and dispose of them. Sadly, if someone has already disabled or damaged the speaker, then this process becomes much more difficult. By offering the speaker better protection, it means potential victims are far less likely to face that tactic.
It’s not clear how Apple will protect the speakers in AirTag 2, but this is definitely a good thing. Even without stalking in mind, ensuring the speaker is protected means legitimate users aren’t likely to accidentally damage their AirTags. Combine this with the rumored upgrade to Ultra Wideband connectivity and tracking down AirTags 2 should be significantly easier than the current trackers.
It’s not entirely clear when AirTags 2 will arrive, but reports suggest that they may be arriving later this year. As to when is anyone's guess right now, so we’ll have to just wait and see what Apple has in store for us as the months progress.
