Almost five years after the little tracker came into our lives, a new Apple AirTag arrives, with a more powerful speaker, a smarter chipset and an improved range. However, the available features depend to some extent on your iPhone.
To connect to second-generation AirTags, you first need an iPhone running iOS 26 or later (or an iPad running iPadOS 26 or later). When it comes to iPhone, that means iPhone 11 or later – any iPhone released in 2019 or later.
Here’s the full list of compatible iPhones so you can make sure yours is included:
- iphone air
- iPhone17
- iPhone 17 Pro
- iPhone 17 Pro Max
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2022)
- iPhone13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020)
- iPhone11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
Apple no longer sells the original AirTag directly. So if you have an iPhone that’s not on this list and you want to track it from there, you’ll need to try to find a third-party AirTag v1, which should still work fine.
Enhanced Ultra Wideband
Here’s another problem: the new AirTag contains a second-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) chip. This allows for accurate AirTag searching up to 50% further than the previous tracker.
However, for this to work properly, your iPhone also needs the latest UWB chip. Specifically, you need a phone from the iPhone 15, iPhone 16, or iPhone 17 series, including the iPhone Air but excluding the iPhone 16e.
Other iPhones can still use the precision search feature, which takes you directly to an AirTag’s exact location (within a few centimeters or inches), but the range will be limited to that of the original AirTag (estimated around nine meters or 30 feet, but as is often the case, Apple is a little vague here).
If you’re tracking from an Apple Watch, the second-generation UWB chip can be found in the Apple Watch Series 9 or later or the Apple Ultra 2 or later. Additionally, you must be updated to watchOS 26.2.1 or later.
