iFixit Shares AirTag Teardown Revealing 'Impressively Compact' Design Compared to Tile Mate and Galaxy SmartTag

iFixit has shared the first of its two-part series in tearing down Apple's AirTag item tracker, revealing that Apple had to make impressive design decisions to achieve its small design, including rethinking the speaker layout.

airtags teardown tile mat galaxy smarttag
For comparison, iFixit compared Apple's ‌AirTag‌ to the Tile Mate and the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag. Compared to the competition, ‌AirTag‌ is the smallest in size, with the most internal space used to house the battery itself. One notable design difference is ‌AirTag‌'s lack of a built-in keyring hole, which iFixit attributes to Apple's history of "turning essential functions into premium, add-on accessories."

An x-ray of the three devices does indeed show that Apple wasted no internal space for its item tracker. On the other hand, the Tile Mate and Galaxy SmartTag seem to be "sprawling" with internal space, and despite their larger footprints, neither tracker includes ultra-wideband technology like AirTags. It is worth noting that Samsung recently launched an ultra-wideband variant of the Galaxy SmartTag; however, iFixit was unable to obtain one for its comparison.

airtags ifixit battery replacement
The Tile Mate, Galaxy SmartTag, and ‌AirTag‌ all feature coin cell replaceable batteries. ‌AirTag‌ and the Galaxy SmartTag use a .66Wh CR2032 battery, while the Tile Mate uses a smaller .39Wh CR1632 battery. ‌AirTag‌ features a twist and lift mechanism for its backplate in terms of battery replacement, but it doesn't include an easy way to lift the backplate if you happen to have greasy or slippery hands.

All three trackers open up with finger power—no other tools required! That said, the AirTag is by far the most difficult, especially if you indulged in a snack earlier and have greasy digits. Imagine opening a stubborn pickle jar with just two slippery thumbs, and you’ve got the idea. The other trackers have dedicated divots for separating the pieces with a fingernail—moisturize to your heart’s content!

Replacing the battery is the furthest an average customer will be able to get into their ‌AirTag‌ without proper tooling. Even in that case, iFixit says Apple showed "surprising restraint in sealing the ‌AirTag‌," noting that completely opening the tracker only requires a vise and some plastic sticks.

airtags speaker teardown
‌AirTag‌ features a built-in speaker which emits sounds when pinged by a paired iPhone through the Find My app, during set-up and other situations. However, given its small form factor, Apple had to think of a new way to fit a speaker into the tracker. With ‌AirTag‌, Apple decided to use the entire body as the speaker driver, with the underside of the cover serving as the speaker's magnet.

It’s circles all the way down as you head inside the AirTag. Did you notice the “button” on the underside of the cover? That’s not a clickable button, like the Mate and SmartTag have, but rather the magnet we saw earlier in the X-ray. It sits right inside the donut-shaped logic board, nested into a coil of copper to form a speaker. You read that right—the AirTag’s body is essentially a speaker driver. Power is sent to the voice coil, which drives the magnet mounted to the diaphragm—in this case, the plastic cover where the battery lives—which makes the sounds that lead you to your lost luggage.

As we noted earlier this week, it is possible to drill a hole through an AirTag to make up for its lack of a built-in keyring hole. Doing so will certainly void your ‌AirTag‌'s warranty, and while it is possible, it is a risk. As iFixit notes, "drilling in the wrong place can cause serious damage."

iFixit says that the second part of its teardown will include detailed information on the ‌AirTag‌'s circuit board and other hidden secrets. For everything you need to know about AirTags, be sure to check out our guide.

Update: iFixit shared some additional teardown images, providing a closer look at the ‌AirTag‌'s various components.

airtag teardown close up
airtag teardown photo

Popular Stories

iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17: What's New With the Cameras

Friday May 2, 2025 3:52 pm PDT by
We've still got months to go before the new iPhone 17 models come out, but a combination of dummy models and leaks have given us some insight into what we can expect in terms of camera changes. Apple is adding new camera features, and changing the design of the camera bump for some models. You might be skeptical of dummy models, but over the years, they've proven to be a highly accurate...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iOS App Store General Feature JoeBlue

Epic Games Wins Major Victory as Apple is Ordered to Comply With App Store Anti-Steering Injunction [Updated]

Wednesday April 30, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
In a victory for Epic Games, Apple was today found to be in violation of a 2021 injunction that required it to allow developers to direct customers to third-party purchase options on the web using in-app links. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been handling the Apple vs. Epic Games dispute for the last five years, said that Apple is in "willful violation" of the injunction she issued to ...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Submits iOS App Update With Out-of-App Purchase Options

Thursday May 1, 2025 3:37 pm PDT by
Spotify today submitted an app update to Apple that will include information on Spotify plan costs and options to subscribe through weblinks without using the in-app purchase system. Spotify will not need to pay a fee to Apple when customers subscribe to the service using alternate payment methods in the Spotify app. In a blog post announcing the changes, Spotify said that yesterday's ruling ...
iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 18 Rumors: What to Expect From Apple Next Year

Friday May 2, 2025 3:01 am PDT by
Apple's is continually working with suppliers on successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a picture forming of what to expect from Apple's 2026 smartphone lineup. If you're skipping this year's upcoming iPhone 17 series, or just plain curious about Apple's plans...
iOS 19

Apple Already Testing iOS 19.4 After Delaying Personalized Siri Features

Thursday May 1, 2025 9:03 am PDT by
A subset of Apple's software engineers started internal development of iOS 19.4 last month, according to the MacRumors visitor logs. iOS 19.4 is expected to be released in March or April next year, so the software update is still nearly a year away. However, Apple develops both "Fall" and "Spring" versions of iOS each year, with our website's analytics logs indicating that both iOS 19.0 and...

Top Rated Comments

justperry Avatar
52 months ago
I like what they did to the coin. ;)





Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 109 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLoveDeveloping Avatar
52 months ago
What a beautiful design. Everything in a circle like it should be. I studied industrial design and as always apple create art, they are incredible at going the extra mile to make it look gorgeous inside and out! Something they got from Steve and Johnny! It actually looks a bit like Apple Park in there! ?
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dvanwinkle Avatar
52 months ago
That X-ray of the quarter ? ?
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrapShack Avatar
52 months ago
Look closer - omg there's a tiny Apple Park in there!



Attachment Image
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
myscrnnm Avatar
52 months ago

Seeing that x-ray, Jefferson was in dire need of a dentist.
Washington is on the quarter, not Jefferson.

What a beautiful design. Everything in a circle like it should be. I studied industrial design and as always apple create art, they are incredible at going the extra mile to make it look gorgeous inside and out! Something they got from Steve and Johnny! It actually looks a bit like Apple Park in there! ?
It's sad to me how underrated Apple's design and engineering are. The company is constantly criticized for "costs more, does less" and "overpriced" and "outdated." But looking at the x-rays comparing the different tracking devices, it's immediately obvious how much more thought went into designing AirTags than the products that came before it. The other two look pedestrian, and the internal components are just placed wherever. In the AirTag, the layout of everything inside has been deliberately placed so that no space is wasted, and there's a beautiful symmetry to everything.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LordVic Avatar
52 months ago
I want a wallet version for sure.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)