Apple May Upgrade AirTag With New Chip, Revamp Magic Mouse

Apple is widely rumoured to be working on a second-generation AirTag, the existing version of which has become quite popular since its launch. While it will not likely include a redesign, Apple could equip the next AirTag model with better tracking capabilities. That could be possible through a chip bump in the AirTag. Apple’s new AirTag may use a new ultrawide-band chip for an increased range, intended to make the tracker easier to find.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s latest post in his Power On newsletter has suggested the new UWB chip may triple the existing range of 10-30 metres, allowing Apple’s Find My network to locate the tracker more easily. The UWB chip that would power the AirTag’s 2025 model is “on par” with the one inside the iPhone 15 and newer models. The next AirTag will likely debut at one of Apple’s events next year, but a specific timeline is unclear.

In addition to upgrading the AirTag next year, Apple may also plan to entirely revamp the Magic Mouse. Introduced back in 2009 – when Steve Jobs was still Apple’s chief executive officer, Magic Mouse disrupted the personal computing industry as it allowed gesture-based inputs. Since then, Magic Mouse has seen several improvements, but these all have been minor. For instance, Apple switched from removable batteries to a rechargeable system, upgraded the mouse’s housing to make it lighter and slide more smoothly, and, more recently, swapped the Lightning Connector with a USB-C port. However, the biggest pain point that Mac users have had with the Magic Mouse is the unusual placement of the charging port – which is at the underside of the Magic Mouse.

Apple’s next Magic Mouse version will likely target that “design flaw,” with Gurman saying that it could fit better the “modern era.” Apple’s design team has been working on multiple “prototyping versions” of the Magic Mouse in recent months, according to his report. That means the next Magic Mouse may offer the charging port anywhere but the bottom. But it may include more changes, which Gurman said, would be “more relevant.” Apple’s next mouse, however, may take between 12 to 18 months to arrive.