Latest AirTags Firmware Update Tunes the Unwanted Tracking Sound for Easier Detection

Earlier this week, Apple began rolling out a firmware update for AirTags, and while it wasn't clear at the time what changes were included in the update, Apple has now revealed in a new support document that it tweaks the sound made by unknown AirTags found to be traveling with you.

AitTag New Firmware

AirTag Firmware Update 1.0.301

Tuning the unwanted tracking sound to more easily locate an unknown AirTag.

Apple has made several changes to the way AirTags function since their release in order to address concerns about the trackers being used for stalking purposes. Apple in February announced a suite of changes it would be making with regard to stalking concerns, with some of the changes rolling out in March with iOS 15.4 and others coming later.

One of those changes coming later involved using more of the loudest tones in the tone sequence played by an unknown AirTag to help locate it more easily, and that appears to be what this week's firmware update includes.

Tuning AirTag’s sound: Currently, iOS users receiving an unwanted tracking alert can play a sound to help them find the unknown AirTag. We will be adjusting the tone sequence to use more of the loudest tones to make an unknown AirTag more easily findable.

While not mentioned in the release notes, Apple is rolling this firmware out on a staggered basis, and there is no way to force your AirTags to update. The update was capped at being delivered to 1% of ‌AirTag‌ users as of Tuesday when it started rolling out, which will rise to 10% on May 3 and 25% on May 9, and it will go fully live to everyone on May 13.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...

Top Rated Comments

jopiek Avatar
36 months ago
Really annoying 'feature'. My brothers dog has an AirTag. If she stays at our place and my brother is not around it will make this sound and the dog of course goes nuts. They should make an option to share AirTags in Family, that would totally solve this problem I think.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
36 months ago

I don't use mine anymore. It's something else to take care of, just adds more clutter to life. I was fine without them.
I generally don’t understand your complaints:

Something else to take care of? I haven’t had to take care of anything, with the exception of an update.

How exactly does it add clutter? It’s approximately the size of a quarter.

You said you were ‘fine without them’, so what made you allegedly purchase them in the first place then?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
36 months ago
I have nothing but trouble with these things and I wish I never bought them.


* I just replaced the batteries and 2 of 5 already claim they are low on battery again
* 3 of 5 refused to connect after replacing the batteries because it claimed the battery is too low to connect or something like that (new batteries!). - Somehow they were able to connect just fine using the same batteries after opening the back and pressing the battery against the AirTag with my hand. Once connected, I could put on the back thingy again and they would stay connected.
* Maybe it is my imagination but it seems to hit my battery life on iPhone / iPad a lot ("Find My") always in my over night battery stats
* Getting the annoying notification of my BFs AirTag. They need to add an option to mark an AirTag as known like "I know this AirTag. Please stopp bothering me FOREVER, not just for this day
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaikidan Avatar
36 months ago

I have nothing but trouble with these things and I wish I never bought them.


* I just replaced the batteries and 2 of 5 already claim they are low on battery again
* 3 of 5 refused to connect after replacing the batteries because it claimed the battery is too low to connect or something like that (new batteries!). - Somehow they were able to connect just fine using the same batteries after opening the back and pressing the battery against the AirTag with my hand. Once connected, I could put on the back thingy again and they would stay connected.
* Maybe it is my imagination but it seems to hit my battery life on iPhone / iPad a lot ("Find My") always in my over night battery stats
* Getting the annoying notification of my BFs AirTag. They need to add an option to mark an AirTag as known like "I know this AirTag. Please stopp bothering me FOREVER, not just for this day

About the "Low Battery" notification after replacing, I remember a article her eon macrumors about airtags having a lot of problems with duracells and other brands who used the anti-child swallowing coatting, as it caused connection problems with the small pins used on the airtags since it didn't provided enough contact surface to trasnmit enough electricity, acting as insulators. and since you managed to have it working by pressing harder I think that that is the problem here, you can use something to brush to try to remove a little bit of coating where it connects to the airtag, but I don't know the best method for it.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
femike Avatar
36 months ago
I don't use mine anymore. It's something else to take care of, just adds more clutter to life. I was fine without them.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Swissfashion Avatar
36 months ago
So a bike thief will now be able to more easily locate the AirTag the bike's owner hid on the bike?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)