AirTag Tidbits: Maximum of 16 Per Apple ID, Low Battery Notifications on iPhone, and More

AirTag, announced this week and shipping on April 30, is Apple's long-rumored Tile-like tracker for locating and keeping a tab on items such as keys, wallets, and more. The iPhone accessory is a new product category for Apple, building on its Find My network. While AirTags won't be in the hands of customers until next week, we continue to learn more about Apple's latest gadget.


YouTuber Rene Ritchie had a chance to speak to Apple's VP of iPhone worldwide marketing, Kaiann Drance, and Apple's senior director of sensing and connectivity, Ron Huang, to discuss AirTags, its features, design, and privacy. The interview covers much of the same ground as another interview the executives gave to Fast Company, but it does include a few other notable tidbits.

Maximum of 16 AirTags Connected to A Single Apple ID

Apple will offer a single AirTag for $29 and a pack of four for $99. Most customers will want to track their keys, wallets, and backpack, not needing more than four. The maximum number of AirTags that can be connected to a single Apple ID is 16, according to Apple's Kaiann Drance.

Low Battery Notfication

AirTags feature a replaceable coin-cell battery that, according to Apple, can last as long as a year. AirTags don't have a screen, or a light, making it hard to understand if the battery is low and needs replacing. As revealed in Ritchie’s interview, iPhone will alert users once the AirTags battery is starting to run low. It's still not clear which specific threshold the battery must reach before an alert is sent. Still, it can reasonably be assumed the AirTag would have enough battery left to allow the owner to purchase and replace it before it completely dies.

Sharing AirTags With Friends and Family

In some instances, users may want to share their car key with a friend or family member, which happens to have an AirTag attached to it. In normal cases, the AirTags safety feature would kick in, alerting the person that an unknown tracking device is on them. Apple's way to prevent this is through Family Sharing.

As Kaiann Drance explains, if an AirTag is being shared with an Apple ID within Family Sharing, the owner of the AirTag can disable the safety alerts to prevent their family or friends iPhone from detecting it as unwanted tracking.

In cases where an AirTag is being borrowed by an individual not in Family Sharing, the borrower can choose to disable the safety alerts.

AirTags will be available for pre-order on Friday, April 23, and will begin shipping on April 30.

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Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
55 months ago
Ugh, that's not enough to track 6 co-workers, 4 family members, 2 lovers, 2 mailmen, and 4 neighbors.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markfc Avatar
55 months ago
Still can’t believe the new AppleTV remote doesn’t have one built in. That video with the guy crawling into the couch was a perfect opportunity to have a little dig at themselves by focusing in on one of the current style remotes hiding in the couch. Opportunity lost.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SVTmaniac Avatar
55 months ago

So how long does the battery last?
Until it dies.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Expos of 1969 Avatar
55 months ago

Possibly the worst product Apple has ever made IMO.
"I disagree" says the Butterfly Keyboard.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spanky Deluxe Avatar
55 months ago
The sharing thing seems like a bit of a mistake. You can't have use AirTags for a whole family to be able to track a shared set of keys or a bike or luggage. It looks like only one person can actually track an item. With the improvements made with Family Sharing made in recent years, it does seem a bit short sighted not to allow family tracking of AirTags.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1258186 Avatar
55 months ago

"I disagree" says the Butterfly Keyboard.
Surely you mean “ I dsagru”
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)