Apple AirTag Helps Retrieve Stolen Vehicle in Memphis
Apple's AirTag item tracker has helped a man in Memphis successfully get his stolen car back, Action News 5 reports.
![AirTag Feature Recolor](https://images.macrumors.com/t/FQEn2p1JpCHpuE00SLhf6aYFuwk=/400x0/article-new/2022/06/AirTag-Feature-Recolor.jpg?lossy)
Earlier this month, a High Point Terrace resident's Hyundai Santa Fe SUV was broken into, with damage to the passenger window and the steering column. According to police reports, it appears someone attempted to steal the vehicle but failed.
Less than a week later, the vehicle was stolen – but anticipating the theft, the car owner had placed an AirTag in the Hyundai to track its movement. AirTags, which use Apple's Find My Network, can leverage nearby devices to transmit their location.
The owner saw the thieves stealing the car on a surveillance camera and proceeded to track down his car with Memphis police to a nearby address. "If I hadn't had that AirTag to show me where [the vehicle] was so early this morning, it's very likely there could've been thousands of dollars more damage to my vehicle," he said.
The AirTag has a number of features that prevent it from traveling with someone without their knowledge, which could alert a thief to its presence. For example, if your iPhone detects that an AirTag is traveling with you, it will issue a notification. A similar feature plays an audio alert when the AirTag has been separated from its owner for between eight and 24 hours.
While the AirTag is not explicitly designed to find stolen items, instead being focused on locating a misplaced item, the reassurance of at least being able to try to track down a stolen item is an added bonus for many AirTag owners. The story stands in contrast to reports of criminals using the trackers to aid car thefts. For more about Apple's AirTag, see our dedicated guide.
Popular Stories
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...