By Glenn Fleishman

February 9, 2026 8:30 AM PT

Buying new AirTags? Check your compatibility first.

Apple’s newly updated AirTag model, informally called an AirTag 2 but just an “AirTag” to Apple, has a greater Bluetooth range, offers greater Precision Finding with newer iPhones, works with newer Apple Watch models, and produces sound Apple states is 50% louder than the original.

But if your iPhone or iPad isn’t running version 26.2.1, released a few days ago, you can’t add one of these new AirTags to it. And your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch¹ won’t be able to locate it.

The original AirTag from 2021 works with the iPhone 6s and later and all iPhone SE models. iPad compatibility varies by model, starting with the iPad Air 2 in 2014. You need iOS 14.5/iPadOS 14.5 or later. The iPhone 11 and later added Precision Finding via an ultra-wideband (UWB) radio; it’s not available for any iPad. An Apple Watch requires watchOS 8 or later, on an Apple Watch Series 3 or later (2017). Macs gained Find My item access with macOS 12 Monterey in 2021, which sweeps in Macs mostly released in 2015, though a few older models qualify, too.²

This revised AirTag 2 thus breaks backwards compatibility in three ways, with one twist.

First, some older devices can’t see newer AirTags. The new tracker works with:

• iPhone 11 and later, and 2nd and 3rd generation iPhone SE, as they’re the oldest that can install iOS 26.
• The iPad comes in so many models, there’s a different minimum requirement for each for iPadOS 26; see the iPadOS 26 page. These models were released between 2018 and 2020.
• An Apple Watch has to be a Series 6 or later (2020), Ultra or later (2022), or SE 2 or later (2022) to install watchOS 26.
• Tahoe requires that a Mac has an M-series chip or is one of a handful of late Intel models from 2019 and 2020.

Second, people who have chosen not to update older devices compatible with the “26” releases can’t use the new AirTag.

Third, the twist: Because there’s no explicit labeling, it will be very difficult to tell the original and revised AirTag apart. 9to5Mac published an article on this very topic, noting:

If it’s an AirTag 1, the back will say: AirTag / Designed by Apple in California / Assembled in China / Bluetooth LE / Ultra Wideband.
If it’s an AirTag 2, the back will say: AirTag / FIND MY / NFC / BLUETOOTH LE / ULTRA WIDEBAND / IP67 / APPLE INC.

If there was ever a time for product naming and physical feature distinguishing, maybe this was it? Perhaps the AirTag 2 should have been matte black or space gray.

For further reading

Why do I know so much (apparently) about AirTags? I wrote an entire book on the topic: Take Control of Find My and AirTags. I’ll be updating it in the next week or two to incorporate the new AirTag model and the provisos listed above.

[Got a question for the column? You can email glenn@sixcolors.com or use /glenn in our subscriber-only Discord community.]

[Glenn Fleishman is a printing and comics historian, Jeopardy champion, and serial Kickstarterer. His latest books are Six Centuries of Type & Printing (Aperiodical LLC) and How Comics Are Made (Andrews McMeel Publishing).]

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