More retailers in Australia are reportedly removing Apple’s location-tracking AirTags from their shelves. This relates to concerns that the trackers’ tiny button batteries could be swallowed by small children.
Earlier this week, office supplier retail giant Officeworks suspended sales of the AirTag. Now other Australian retailers — including JB Hi-Fi and Big W — have seemingly followed suit.
iMac … iPad Pro … Apple TV 4K … AirTag …
So much new Apple hardware, so little time!
And that’s not to mention the purple iPhone or the upgrades and updates coming to Apple Podcasts, Apple Card and more. Jump right into all our coverage of this week’s big “Spring Loaded” Apple event in Cult of Mac Magazine. (And if you’re already caught up on that, you’ll find plenty of other Apple news, reviews and how-tos.)
Our iOS mag is free and makes reading easy and fun, but you also can find the headlines below.
Bad news AirTag shoppers: there’s no hole in Apple’s item-tracker. You have to buy an add-on to attach it to anything. Accessory makers have rushed to put out key rings and luggage tags. But no one makes the item I want: an AirTag pet collar.
The first AirTags reviews and unboxing videos paint a pretty positive picture of Apple’s new tracking tags. After a short time using AirTags, reviewers praise the tiny trackers’ design as “classic Apple” and their precise finding capabilities as “utility-driven augmented reality.”
However, they also point out some limitations — including surprising scuffability!
Apple revealed on Tuesday that iOS 14.5 and the iPad equivalent will reach customers iPhones and tablets some time “next week.” These include a rush of new features, like unlocking an iPhone with an Apple Watch. And a controversial change that make it harder for apps to track users for ads.
To help make the launches possible, developers were given access to the release candidates for these upcoming operating system versions on Tuesday. They can both look for bugs and test their own applications with the new OS versions.
Wow, that was the speediest, most jam-packed Apple event in recent memory.
It was so quick-moving, we all got whiplash. There was barely time to catch your breath between announcements: Here’s a new purple iPhone. Fuggedaboutit, here’s a new Apple TV, and new AirTags. Oh, and hers’s new iMacs — and iPads!!
In an hour, Tim Cook and Co. managed to introduce a raft of products with dozens of new features and technologies while dazzling us with some pretty jaw-dropping promo videos.
Once again, the prerecorded format worked well. The promo videos in Tuesday’s “Spring Loaded” event looked super. They hit us with a great mix of head-spinning effects and angles, humor and product placement.
Here are some thoughts and initial reactions to some of the major announcements:
It’s 4/20 and Apple’s big iMac and iPad Pro launch event was a total trip. The new Mac desktop comes in a rainbow of colors, and the M1 processor in the latest tablet will blow you away. And there’s AirTag too, at long last.
Grab some snacks and get ready to find out what the new products mean for Apple users and for the company’s future.
Apple just took the wraps off AirTag, a small tracker that users can attach to items for easy location at a later date.
Tile and other companies already offer rivals products. But Apple’s trackers offer technology that makes finding lost items easier and more accurate.
Update: The Apple Online Store is down as well now. Expect it to go back up following the conclusion of today’s Apple event.
The Apple Online Store sitemap page is down ahead of today’s “Spring Loaded” event.
Usually, Apple takes the entire Apple Online Store down ahead of its special events. Today that doesn’t appear to have happened. (Although this could change as the day progresses.)
Nonetheless, this highlights that Apple is expecting to make some changes to the products on offer — likely including a new iPad Pro, iMac, and possible other products like Apple’s location-tracking AirTags. There may also be more information about Apple’s rumored Podcasts+ service.
The next Apple product-release event will happen April 20. Invites went out Tuesday morning for the virtual “Spring Loaded” event, just hours after Siri leaked the date.
Naturally, Apple didn’t announce what’s on the agenda. But rumors point to multiple new iPads, as well as the possibility of next-gen AirPods, a faster Apple TV and the long-awaited debut of AirTags item trackers.
