I have tried out and reviewed so many different accessories for the iPhone and iPad since I started this website in 2008 that it is becoming increasingly rare for me to find a product that I consider an all-time great. I was delighted to learn that Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro (Amazon link) falls into that elite category of accessories. I purchased one about three months ago, and this accessory has transformed my iPad into a far more useful and enjoyable device. It makes me a much more productive lawyer. And it has done so in a way that completely surprised me because I’ve been using external keyboards with my iPad for an incredibly long time; I had no idea that this version of an external keyboard would be such an improvement. If you use an iPad to get work done and you haven’t yet purchased Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad, I strongly encourage you to consider doing so.

What it is

I’m sure you already know the basics: this is an all-in-one keyboard and trackpad for the iPad.

The version I purchased is made for an iPad Pro. It works with both the iPad Pro (M4), released by Apple in May 2024, and the iPad Pro (M5), released in October 2025. Apple also sells a similar product for the iPad Air, and near the end of this review, I’ll compare those two.

Apple announced its first Magic Keyboard for an iPad Pro in March 2020. That first-generation model included a backlit keyboard and trackpad. But what was most notable was that it used a cantilever, meaning it was firmly attached at one end (the hinge at the back of the keyboard) and the other end extended to support the weight of the iPad. This means that instead of the iPad being positioned at the back of the keyboard, it can appear to float above it. This brings the iPad closer to you, making it easier to see and touch the display. It also makes it easy to adjust the viewing angle.

Because the iPad attaches to the Magic Keyboard via magnets, it is incredibly easy to lift the iPad away to use it as a tablet, and just as easy to reattach it. When connected via those magnets, the iPad uses the Smart Connector port (three dots on the back, near the edge) to communicate with the Magic Keyboard, so you don’t need to worry about making a Bluetooth connection. It just works. That original design also included a USB-C port in the hinge for power (not data).

This version is the second generation, introduced in May 2024, along with the iPad Pro (M4). It includes everything that I just described from the original model, but it is better. The most noticeable improvement is the addition of a 14-key function row across the top. It also features a larger trackpad that uses haptic feedback, so you feel like you are clicking down on the trackpad when you push it, even though that is an illusion. The palm rest of the second-generation version uses aluminum; I never used the original version, but I’ve read that this is an improvement that feels better. The new version is also lighter and slightly thinner than the 2020 model.

Why I love this product

All of the product details that I mentioned above were known to me in 2020 and 2024 when the two models were introduced. I thought that the product sounded nice, but it also seemed unnecessary for me. First, I already had a traditional Apple Magic Keyboard inside a Canopy case made by Studio Neat. I took that with me whenever I thought I might want a keyboard, such as when I travelled. And in my office, the Logitech keyboard that works with my PC can easily connect to an iPad just by pressing a button and waiting a few seconds. Second, I knew that a Magic Keyboard for iPad would add to the weight of my iPad; I liked the fact that an iPad with an Apple Smart Folio cover is lighter than a laptop. Third, I didn’t think that a touchpad was very important; I own an Apple Magic Trackpad, which works well with an iPad, but I don’t use it very often.

I was wrong.

First, having an external keyboard always available for my iPad is incredibly useful. I don’t have to get a Bluetooth keyboard and wait for it to connect. It is just there. And it works great, with very comfortable backlit keys. Having easy access to an excellent keyboard has caused me to do even more work with my iPad instead of a PC, whether I am typing emails or notes, entering text in a website or app (such as entering my time in my Firm’s time-and-billing software or adding items to my to-do software), or even just opening an app by typing command-space and then typing the first letter or two of an app name.

Having more reasons to use my iPad instead of my PC is nice because, for many tasks, I prefer how the iPad works. In my office, I’ll have my PC keyboard right there in front of me, but I still often prefer using the iPad to get the task done more efficiently. And even for the tasks that I previously did with my iPad, I can often do them faster and better with a keyboard and a trackpad.

As noted above, this second-generation model includes a 14-key function row. It is useful. Most importantly, there is an escape key in the top-left corner. I use that key frequently to exit certain functions. For example, when I am using the YouTube webpage in Safari and watching a video in full-screen mode, I can tap escape to exit full-screen mode. The volume buttons are in a more convenient location than reaching up to touch the buttons on the side of the iPad. The brightness buttons are far more convenient than using the on-screen buttons, which first require opening the Control Center.

When I don’t need the keyboard, I love that I can just lift the iPad and easily remove it from the magnetic connection. I still use my iPad as a tablet—either on its own, or with the Apple Pencil—very frequently. But thanks to the Magic Keyboard for iPad, I’m using my iPad even more. The only downside I’ve encountered is that sometimes, when I’m using my iPad as a pure tablet, I miss the Apple Smart Folio cover when this Magic Keyboard is serving as my iPad cover. The Smart Folio provides more friction on the back of the iPad, making it more secure in my hands. Also, the Smart Folio works well to put the iPad at a slight angle as I write notes. My solution is just to use both. The Smart Folio cover on its own is incredibly thin and light. So I keep it next to me at my desk, and I attach it to my iPad several times a week. When I travel, my iPad stays in the Magic Keyboard for iPad as a case, and I slide the flat Smart Folio right next to it.

The second thing I like about this accessory is the USB-C port on the hinge. When I’m working at a desk—in my office or at home—I plug in a USB-C cord. That keeps my iPad charged as long as it is magnetically attached. When I lift up my iPad to use it as a tablet, I virtually always have 100% power, so I never need to worry about the battery. Becuase of the configuration of my work and home desks, it would be more convenient for me if the USB-C port were on the right instead of the left. Or better yet, on both sides. But I understand why Apple put it on the left side, since the iPad’s USB-C port is on the right when it is in the Magic Keyboard for iPad.

For many years, I have been using the Simplex Tablet iPad Stand (my review) at my desk in my office to hold the iPad steady at a comfortable angle, with a USB-C cable plugged into the port. Whenever I picked up my iPad to use it, I would unplug the cord and then plug it back in later. Now that my iPad mostly lives in the Magic Keyboard for iPad, I no longer need to frequently plug and unplug a cord.

Third, the trackpad is far more useful than I realized now that I always have it around. I love that the iPad is a touch interface, and I still touch the screen frequently, but thanks to iPadOS 26, the on-screen pointer works incredibly well. It is very nice to use the trackpad and pointer to precisely select items on the screen without my finger getting in the way. This is nothing new, of course; we have been using a pointer since the days of the original Macintosh in 1984. I only rarely took the time to connect an external trackpad to my iPad. Now that a high-quality trackpad is always available to me, I truly understand how useful it really is.

Fourth, I love having all of my key accessories together. The Magic Keyboard for iPad gives me the keyboard and the trackpad. My Apple Pencil lives on top. Everything is together in a nice package. It is fast and easy to fold the keyboard into a case when I want to move to a conference room or another attorney’s office, or to a table or counter at home to get some work done. Once I am there, I have everything I might need.

Fifth, everything about this device feels very well-made. My iPad Pro just feels like a more premium product thanks to this accessory.

Put all of this together, and I have been using my iPad more over the last three months than ever before. And that is saying something because I was already an avid iPad user in my law practice.

Cost

This is an expensive iPad accessory, and that was the main reason that I waited so long to buy one. Apple sells the 13" model for $349, and the current Amazon price is $334. According to Camel Camel Camel, that $334 price is typical for Amazon, and there have been two past instances of deep discounts: $274.99 around Black Friday in 2024 and $279.99 around Black Friday in 2025 (which is when I purchased mine).

Having said that, now that I know how useful this product is, I would absolutely pay full price if I had to do so again. That is especially true now that iPadOS 26 makes it so much easier to work with multiple windows and use an external pointing device.

Comparison to the iPad Air version

If you use an iPad Air instead of an iPad Pro, Apple sells a similar model: the Magic Keyboard for iPad Air (Amazon link). That version costs less: $269 for the 11" model and $319 for the 13" model. Most features remain the same, including the excellent cantilever design, Smart Connector support, and the USB-C port on the hinge. But there are a few differences: the trackpad is smaller and lacks haptic feedback, the keyboard is not backlit, and it doesn’t have the aluminium metal finish that feels a little more premium.

Conclusion

As I said at the outset of this review, this is one of the best iPad accessory purchases that I have ever made. If you are like me—i.e., you’ve heard of this product for many years now and have resisted getting it because of the price and questions about how useful it would be—you should reconsider. The iPad is already an amazing productivity tool, and with the Magic Keyboard for iPad, it is even better.

Click here to get the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro ($314 on Amazon).

What will Apple announce during its next big product announcement on March 4th, and how will Apple make the announcement? That’s the first topic that we tackle on this week’s episode of the In the News podcast. We also discuss new features coming in iOS 26.4 in the next month or two, the new Apple Watch app for Rivian vehicles, changing the iPad keyboard so you can swipe instead of typing, the HiWater app for tracking your fluid intake, the Twelve South Valet, and more.

In our Where Y’at? segment, we discuss Mardi Gras and the iPhone emergency satellite SOS service.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss two Apple TV shows that were supposed to be released last year and when they will come out in 2026.

In our In the Know segment, Brett describes a phone device to use with an old Apple Watch Ultra, and I share three useful Apple Watch tips.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

This week, Apple revealed that it will host an event on March 4th in New York, London, and Schanghai to announce … well, Apple hasn’t told us what it will announce. But it must be something interesting if Apple is hosting three events at once in different parts of the world. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac came up with a list of many items that Apple could announce: an iPhone 17e, a new entry-level iPad, an M4 iPad Air, a new entry-level laptop that Apple might call the MacBook, a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, an M5 Mac Studio, a second-generation of the Apple Studio Display, and perhaps another type of Apple display. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has another idea: Apple could announce an F1 app for the Apple Vision Pro. We will find out what is actually announced in less than two weeks. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Last week, Apple released iOS 26.3. This week, Apple released the beta version of iOS 26.4. David Snow of Cult of Mac reports that one feature coming in iOS 26.4 is a new version of Apple Podcasts that will let you quickly switch between the audio and video versions of certain podcasts.
• Rajat Saini of The Mac Observer reports on changes to the Health app in iOS 26.4, including the ability to show you your average time sleeping over the prior two weeks.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports on additional features in the beta version of iOS 26.4, including a new Apple Intelligence feature in the Music app called Playlist Playground that lets you create a playlist of songs based on text descriptions.
• Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that it appears that one of the new features of CarPlay in iOS 26.4, discovered by Thomas Dye, is an Apple TV app. The app lets you watch movies and TV shows on a CarPlay screen. Of course, Apple isn’t going to let you watch a movie while you are driving. But if you are parked and waiting for someone—or perhaps recharging your electric car—you can catch up on your favorite shows. In addition to the Apple TV app, you can also stream video to CarPlay from an iPhone.
• Speaking of vehicles, if you drive a Rivian electric vehicle, you’ll be interested in this report from Joe Rossignol of MacRumors that there is a new Apple Watch app. You can use the app to lock or unlock doors, open or close windows, open or close the front or rear trunks, sound an alarm, and more.
• Speaking of the Apple Watch, Tim Hardwick of MacRumors shares some useful Apple Watch tips.
• Riley Hill of Slate Pad explains how you can use swipe typing on an iPad by resizing the keyboard into a floating, phone-sized version.
• Adam Engst of TidBITS reviews HiWater, an app that you can use to track your fluid intake.
• Rei Padla of The Gadgeteer speculates on how an AI pin from Apple might work.
• Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider reviews the Valet from Twelve South, a $180 device that provides a place to store items like your wallet and keys, as well as a place to charge an iPhone. He says that the product looks great, but he wishes it supported the latest Qi charging standard (25W) rather than 15W.
• While I was enjoying the Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans this past Tuesday, a deadly avalanche occurred near Lake Tahoe. At least eight people died, but fortunately, six of the skiers were saved thanks to the SOS feature that is available on many iPhone models. Kalley Huang of the New York Times reports that the group was able to text emergency services for four hours, providing critical information. (The group also had an avalanche beacon, which can send radio signals to help first responders track people.)
• The new season of Major League Soccer starts tomorrow, and all subscribers to Apple TV can now watch all games without paying anything extra. There are many other improvements this season, as noted by David Snow of Cult of Mac.
• And finally, Nellie Andreeva of Deadline reports that the French-language series The Hunt (Traqués), which was supposed to debut on Apple TV over two months ago but was delayed in light of claims that the script was plagiarized, will now debut on March 4. It looks like it could be an exciting thriller. Here is a trailer:

Mardi Gras in New Orleans was great fun this year, and my iPhone 17 Pro Max was with me to preserve some fantastic memories with friends and family. Today, I’m sharing some photos that I took on St. Charles Avenue on Mardi Gras morning before the parades started rolling. I always love seeing the creativity that goes into clever group costumes, and this year delivered. Hopefully, these will bring a smile to your face, as they did for me and others along the parade route.

At the end of this post, I included a video of actor Noah Wyle riding in the Orpheus parade on Monday night. Even though it was dark and I was behind crowds and thus far from the float, the 4x telephoto lens let me grab a surprisingly clear close-up. The iPhone’s camera is quite impressive.

Here is a few seconds of video that I took on Monday night:

Mardi Gras has arrived in New Orleans. While today marks the grand finale—a whirlwind of parades, costumes, and revelry—it is also the culmination of a season that began shortly after New Year’s. This past weekend was especially memorable, with perfect weather drawing crowds to watch the floats roll by and to enjoy great times with family and friends. If you’ve never experienced Mardi Gras firsthand, I encourage you to add it to your bucket list. There’s nothing quite like it.

Whether you are here in New Orleans today in person or just in spirit, have a Happy Mardi Gras!

When will Apple finally unveil its big AI improvements to Siri? That’s the first topic we discuss in this week’s episode of the In the News podcast. We also discuss the new AirTag models, how to protect the confidentiality of information on your iPhone when heading to a protest or an airport, what could be next for the Apple Health app, recovering deleted photos, putting a driver’s license in your Apple Wallet, and more.

In our In the Vision segment, we discuss the new YouTube app for the Apple Vision Pro.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss the Apple purchasing all rights to the Apple TV show Severance.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for streamlining the process for taking a screenshot on your iPhone, and I explain why you might want to use the new ability to mark an item in the Reminders app as urgen

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

This week, Apple released iOS 26.3. It is mostly just a security update, but there are a few new features, as noted by Juli Clover of MacRumors. However, I was most interested in iOS 26.3 moving into the rear view mirror because, as Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports, the rumors have been that the next release, iOS 26.4, will include Apple’s major AI updates to Siri. My enthusiasm waned when I saw Mark Gurman of Bloomberg report that the major Siri improvements could be delayed even more, and as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, Gurman’s prior reporting on Siri delays has been accurate. On the other hand, Jennifer Elias of CNBC reports that (perhaps in response to the Gurman report), Apple told CNBC that the company is still on track to launch the new Siri in 2026. Suffice it to say that I don’t recommend placing any bets on exactly when the new Siri will be released. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Juli Clover of MacRumors shares 10 iPhone tips. For example, she shared a shortcut that lets you search the Messages app for messages with text within a specific date range, which is something that I did not know was possible.
• If you are heading to a protest—and we are certainly seeing more and more of those these days—Philip Michaels explains in a post for Six Colors why you might want to turn off Face ID.
• There have been lots of rumors about how Apple might improve its Health app on the iPhone, such as using AI and/or introducing a Health+ product. Wesley Hilliard discussed what he would like to see Apple unveil in the future in this post on his HilliTech blog.
• Hilliard also reviews Apple’s new Pixelmator Pro app on the iPad.
• Last week, I reviewed the new second-generation AirTag. This week, Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors notes that this new AirTag only works with newer iPhone models.
• Brett Burney and I are teaching a two-hour online CLE for myLawCLE on February 18, 2026, on the topic of using an iPad in a law practice. It is not designed for power users—for example, we start with advice on how to select the right iPad and then cover the best apps to get—but if you or someone that you know wants an introduction to using an iPad as a lawyer, this might be right up your alley.
• If you are like Joel McHale—or, at least, the character he plays on TV—you may not know that you can recover a photo after you delete it in the Photos app. In a post for Six Colors, Philip Michaels explains how.
• According to Joe Rossignol of MacRumors, the next seven states to gain support for storing a digital driver’s license in Apple’s Wallet app will be Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia—although the timing for those states is not yet announced.
• As reported by Devindra Hardawar of Engadget, YouTube has finally released an app for the Vision Pro. Until now, I have been watching YouTube videos in the Safari web browser, and while Apple used some tricks to make that as pleasant as possible, I’m glad there is now a dedicated app, especially since it supports 360, 3D, and VR 180 content. I tried this new app out last night, and I like it.
• Nellie Andreeva of Deadline has an extensive report on the Apple TV show Severance. The big news in this report is that Apple has now acquired all rights and will produce the show in-house. However, I especially enjoyed the article because it shares tons of behind-the-scenes details of how shows like this are made, including how even a successful show can lose money for a studio. I recommend the article, but note that show creator Ben Stiller posted on X: “Do not believe everything you read. Please. That article is all [hearsay] and [has] no sources attributed.” So some of the details certainly could be wrong.
• And finally, here is a new video from Apple that shows off the new selfie feature of the iPhone 17 Pro (and also the iPhone 17, although that isn’t mentioned in this video) that automatically shifts between portrait and landscape mode depending upon who is in a selfie picture:

Apple is selling more iPhones than ever right now, and Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast discussing theories on why that is happening. We also discuss iPhones in space, managing potentially unwanted phone calls on an iPhone, a new portable 3-in-1 charger from Anker with a fan, whether you should take RAW photographs, and more.

In our In the Vision segment, we discuss the new Retrocade app for the Apple Vision Pro, which allowed me and my son to travel back in time to the early 1980s and play arcade games such as Frogger.

In our Where Y’at? segment, we discuss both how police can use Apple devices to investigate crimes and Apple’s second-generation AirTag.

In our In the Know segment, Apple describes a new device that both charges your iPhone and lets you play retro handheld games, and I discuss Mardi Gras.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

Most people know Savannah Guthrie as a Today show anchor, but she is also an attorney who graduated from Georgetown Law School. (She was a few years behind me.) She is going through a horrible ordeal right now because her mother is missing, and there is evidence that her mother may have been abducted. I mention all of this because there is an Apple technology connection to this story. As noted by Andrew Orr of AppleInsider, investigators were able to pinpoint the time when she may have last been in her home because she has a pacemaker that communicates with her Apple Watch, even when she is not wearing the Apple Watch. By noting when the data stopped syncing, authorities have some evidence of when she may have left the premises. With technology like an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods that we often keep very close to our bodies, and with those devices syncing with other devices and capturing information such as heart rate and location, mobile technology can play a big role in recreating what may have happened in the past—something that is frequently an issue in civil and criminal lawsuits. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• As I noted earlier this week, Apple just finished its best financial quarter ever, and Apple CEO Tim Cook said that “demand for iPhone was simply staggering.” One reason for that was a big increase in iPhone sales in China. Zeyi Yang of Wired explores some of the reasons why, including: (1) the baseline iPhone 17 model has a ton of features that used to only come in the Pro model, and (2) the baseline iPhone 17 model was priced low enough to qualify for a new Chinese government subsidy aimed at stimulating the economy. Those sound like valid reasons, but I’ve also heard it frequently said that many customers in China prefer a smartphone that stands out as looking different and new, and Apple is now selling an orange Pro phone and an iPhone Air, two models that definitely look like new models.
• Simon Jary of Macworld reviews the new second-generation AirTag. And in case you missed it, here is my review.
• Two years ago this week, Apple released the Apple Vision Pro. Many news reports about this anniversary are similar to this one by Hartley Charlton of MacRumors in that they criticize the device as not yet being a blockbuster. I think they are missing the point. I was excited about this product when I bought one two years ago, and I still love using it today. But more importantly, the Apple Vision Pro is a preview of the future, and I’m thrilled that Apple is working on that future right now, just like the first Mac, first iPhone, and first iPad were all just a tease for much better products that would come later.
• A fascinating Vision Pro game was released yesterday: Retrocade. As Giovanni Colantonio of Polygon notes, it brings a 1980s arcade into your home because you can play full-size arcade games as you stand in an immersive environment that looks like an arcade. I only played with it for a short period of time last night, but it was so much fun! One of my favorite games from the early 1980s was Frogger, and there I was, playing what looked like the actual Frogger game. The in-game graphics and sounds were perfect, and better yet, I could also look at all of the details on the cabinet of the arcade game. When I showed it off to my son, his first reaction was “What is Frogger?”—clearly, I have failed in my duties as a father if he doesn’t recognize that game, although he did recognize some of the other titles in the collection such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man—but minutes later, the two of us were taking turns helping the frog to dodge traffic and laughing at each other’s mistakes, just like I would do with my middle school friends way back when. Thanks, Apple, for the walk down memory lane. I look forward to playing with this one some more. (Although I do agree with Colantaonio—they should add Ms. Pac-Man, which was another one of my favorites.)
• In a post for Six Colors, Shelly Brisbin discusses the Transit app, an app that provides lots of useful information when you need to ride a bus or train.
• Eric Berger of Ars Technica reports that NASA will now let astronauts take their iPhones to the moon.
• The title of this article by Andrew Zucker in the Wall Street Journal is a little bizarre—Call Screening Is Aggravating the Rich and Powerful—but the article does a decent job of describing how the new iOS 26 calls screening function can improve your experience with an iPhone.
• You can instruct an iPhone to take pictures in both RAW and JPEG format. RAW format can be useful if you want to do advanced editing of the photo, but the RAW format takes up a lot more space than a picture in JPEG format. If you want to delete those RAW images while keeping the JPEG version, Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors explains how to do so.
• I’m a big fan of the UGREEN 3-in-1 Foldable MagFlow Wireless Charger ($139.99 on Amazon) that I reviewed a few months ago. It can charge three devices, and it folds up for travel. Juli Clover of MacRumors reviews a new and similar device from Anker called the Anker Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station ($149.99 on Amazon). The Anker device includes a quiet internal fan to keep an iPhone cooler while charging, and in some circumstances, this could result in faster charging.
• If you want to get some of Apple’s Apple Watch bands at an amazing 70% discount, Woot is once again selling $50 Apple Solo Loop bands for only $14.99 and $100 Apple Braided Solo Loop bands for only $29.99. I have taken advantage of these occasional sales on Woot many times in the past to try out different band colors and sizes.
• In a post on Six Colors, Philip Michaels recommends using a $5 one-day Sling Day Pass when you want to watch a specific sporting event or other program on your Apple TV after you have “cut the cord” with a cable company.
• Apple TV had a press day earlier this week, and Apple revealed lots of information about its upcoming shows. Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider shares five new TV shows and six new movies that were announced, along with eight returning series.
• One of the shows currently airing on Apple TV that I have been enjoying is Season 3 of Tehran. David Snow of Cult of Mac shares some reasons you should watch Tehran if you haven’t started yet.
• Here is a great video from Apple called Humans of Apple TV. It’s a slideshow with some behind-the-scenes pictures taken from Apple TV productions. Nicely done.
• Ryan Christoffel reports that you can add a subscription to Peacock—allowing you to watch the Super Bowl and the Olympics—to your Apple TV subscription for as little as $2/month.
• Speaking of the Super Bowl, in an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Jason Snell describes Apple’s long history with that game.
• And finally, Apple often sponsors filmmakers who create short films using an iPhone. A great one was created to celebrate the Chinese New Year called Glad I Met You. It runs about 11 minutes, and it is worth watching.

On April 30, 2021, Apple began selling the original AirTag. As I noted in my review, the product did a great job of helping you to find a lost (or stolen) item. In the almost five years since then, the device has gotten even more useful. There are now lots of third-party accessories that work with an AirTag, making it easy to attach an AirTag to almost any type of item. Also, you can now share an AirTag’s location with third parties that you trust, such as an airline. Apple recently announced that, according to “a leading IT provider for airlines … using Share Item Location has reduced baggage delays by 26 percent and reduced incidences of ‘truly lost’ or unrecoverable luggage by 90 percent.”

Last week, Apple started selling the second-generation AirTag. It is just like the original AirTag, but a little better, for the same price. I purchased a set of four of the new AirTags and compared them to the original AirTags that I’ve been using for years. Sure enough, the new ones are a little better because they make it easier to find a lost device.

Louder

If I cannot find an item with an AirTag attached, the first thing that I do is open the Find My app on my iPhone and tap the specific AirTag in the Items tab. A map shows me where the AirTag is located. It is typically in the same place that I am located—such as in my house—so the next thing that I do is tap Play Sound and listen for the beep. That is usually enough for me to remember that, for example, I left my car keys in my jacket instead of in their usual location.

Apple says that the new AirTag uses an updated internal design that makes it 50% louder. Sure enough, in my tests, the speaker is louder, and that makes it a little easier to locate the AirTag.

Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac notes that, unlike the original AirTag, which has a chirp in the key of F, new AirTag chirps in the key of G, and you can hear the difference thanks to a video embedded in his post.

Improved Precision Finding

If playing a sound isn’t enough for me to locate an AirTag, the next thing that I do is tap the Find button, located right next to the Play Sound button, and then walk around. The Find My app will indicate when it can sense the AirTag and then, as you get closer, will display a huge arrow that points to the AirTag and says how far away it is.

For the original AirTag, that feature used Apple’s Ultra Wideband chip. For the new AirTag, the feature uses Apple’s second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, which Apple says will guide you to a lost AirTag frup up to 50% further away. In my tests, it definitely worked better.

I ran some tests in which I “hid” an old and a new AirTag right next to each other. In the same spot where my iPhone would tell me that it was still searching for a signal from my older AirTag, my iPhone was able to get a signal from the newer AirTag and tell me how far away it was.

As I moved around even more, eventually the old AirTag would appear to my iPhone with a weak connection, whereas in the same spot, the newer AirTag showed me an arrow to lead me to the exact location.

I saw this result over and over again. Not only was it easier to find the new AirTag from farther away, but it was also easier to find it when there were walls between me and the AirTag. The radio in the new AirTag is better.

To be fair, I don’t mean to imply that I never would have found the older AirTag. I just needed to spend more time walking around my house until I got close enough to get a signal. And of course, if I was far enough away, my iPhone wouldn’t sense either the old or the new AirTag. The point is simply that the new AirTag was easier and faster to find. That’s nice.

Better Bluetooth

What if the item with an AirTag is located far away from you? For example, what if I left an item in my office and I am now back in my house?

Each AirTag has a Bluetooth radio in it, which means that it can talk to other Bluetooth devices that are within the vicinity. The AirTag sends out a number that changes from time to time, and if another iPhone passes within Bluetooth range of that device, it will notice the AirTag’s number and notify Apple that a certain AirTag number was seen at a certain place and time. Because there are so many iPhones in the world, when you use the Find My app to search for an item, there is a good chance that you will learn of the location simply because an iPhone has passed by it. All of this happens without alerting the owner of the iPhone that happened to sense your lost device, so there are no privacy concerns.

The original AirTag could often be sensed by an iPhone that was 30 to 50 feet away. Apple says that the new AirTag uses “an upgraded Bluetooth chip expands the range at which items can be located.” Apple didn’t provide any specific quantification on how much better the new AirTag works. I haven’t yet been able to tell how much of a difference this makes, and I haven’t yet seen any published reports in which anyone else has been able to quantify the difference. Nevertheless, I presume that there will sometimes be circumstances in which the original AirTag could not be found but the new AirTag can be found because of the Bluetooth improvement.

Same size

When Brett Burney and I discussed the new AirTag during the latest episode of the In the News podcast, Brett said that it was unfortunate that Apple didn’t use this opportunity to change the shape or size of the AirTag. I see that Juli Clover of MacRumros said something similar in her review.

I disagree. By keeping the new AirTag the same size and shape, Apple ensured compatibility with all of the existing AirTag accessories. For example, I have been using a Belkin AirTag holder for my keys for almost five years, and it was simple to pop up my old AirTag and replace it with the new one. Suddenly, my keys became even easier to find.

I understand that sometimes it is nice to have something that works like an AirTag but is smaller. However, we already have that. Apple lets third parties make devices that work with Find My. For example, I use a thin device from Eufy that is about the size of a credit card in my wallet: the Eufy SmartTrack Card (my review), which is only $16.88 on Amazon.

Accordingly, I consider it an advantage that a new AirTag looks essentially the same as an original AirTag. In fact, the only way to tell them apart is to look at the back of the AirTag. If you see text in UPPER CASE, it is a second-generation AirTag.

Apple Watch Precision Finding

With an original AirTag and the new AirTag, you can use the Find Items app on an Apple Watch to get directions to the general location of the AirTag. However, that app does not support Precision Finding—the feature where you get an arrow pointing in the direction you should walk and the distance in feet.

With the new AirTag and an Apple Watch Series 9 or later or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later, you can now use Precision Finding on an Apple Watch, making it easier to find an item when your iPhone is not around. However, Apple did not add this support to the Find Items app on the Apple Watch, which seems bizarre to me. Instead, you need to follow the steps on this page of the Apple website to add a specific item to the Control Center of the Apple Watch, one for each second-generation AirTag. Then, to use Precision Finding, you swipe up from the bottom of an Apple Watch screen and select the Control Center item for that specific AirTag.

This new feature works. Instead of an arrow, you see a circle with an arc indicating which direction to walk to get closer to the second-generation AirTag. And when you get to within a few feet, the display changes, similar to the way it works on an iPhone.

I’m glad that Apple added this feature, but I cannot figure out why they put it in the Control Center instead of the Find Items app on the Apple Watch, which is where it belongs. I’m sure that many owners of a new AirTag will have no idea that this new feature even exists. My hope is that a future update to the Find Items app on the Apple Watch will add support for this feature.

Conclusion

I don’t think that you need to rush out and replace all of your original AirTags. The first-generation AirTags will continue to work just fine. But if there is an item that is especially important to you, something for which it would be helpful if the item could be even easier to find, it is nice to have the option to use the improved second-generation AirTag. I’ve already made that change for my keys and my Tom Bihn bag that I take to work every day. However, I’m going to continue using my first-generation AirTags in situations in which I don’t need the latest and greatest. After purchasing these new AirTags, I now have four additional AirTags in my possession, so I can use AirTags for even more items.

Click here to get AirTag (second generation) from Amazon ($99 for four).

Click here to get AirTag (second generation) from Amazon ($29 for one).