| ▲ | logicalfails 9 hours ago |
| > The new AirTag is designed with the environment in mind, with 85 percent recycled plastic in the enclosure, 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled gold plating in all Apple-designed printed circuit boards. The paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based and can be easily recycled. I'm no material scientist, but this seems pretty impressive to me that Apple's economy of scale can pull this off, and upgrade the device capabilities, for less than $30 USD. |
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| ▲ | jsheard 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Building an attachment point into the tag itself is still beyond current technology though. We just don't know how to do it. |
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| ▲ | pftburger 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The fundamental issue preventing keyring aperture integration stems from the AirTag’s reliance on inverse-phase magnetic reluctance in the structural substrate.
You see, the enclosure maintains a precisely calibrated coefficient offramular expansion. Introducing a penetrative void would destabilize the sinusoidal depleneration required for proper UWB phase conjugation. The resulting spurving bearing misalignment could induce up to 40 millidarkness of signal attenuation.
Apple’s engineers attempted to compensate using prefabulated amulite in the magneto-reluctance housing, but this only exacerbated the side-fumbling in the hyperboloid waveform generators. Early prototypes with keyring holes exhibited catastrophic unilateral dingle-arm failure within mere minutes of deployment.
Until we develop lotus-o-delta-type bearings capable of withstanding the differential girdle spring modulation, I’m afraid keyring integration remains firmly in the realm of theoretical engineering—right up there with perpetual motion machines and TypeScript projects that compile without any // @ts-ignore comments.
The technology simply isn’t there yet. | | |
| ▲ | nasretdinov 8 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I must say you had me in the first couple sentences :). Also does look like it's not an LLM-generated text either. Good job! | | |
| ▲ | nerdsniper 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | Indeed, LLM's still suck at the cultural nuance required for humor. It's like they're writing for an audience that's too generic, so the joke doesn't truly "land" for anyone in particular. |
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| ▲ | kstrauser 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | You really don’t want to accidentally frobnicate the turbo encabulator. | |
| ▲ | port11 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Of course the offramular expansion is what makes all the Fleeb Juice a key aspect of Find My. That and the lack of a substantive in the name. | |
| ▲ | 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | [deleted] | |
| ▲ | next_xibalba 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | > attempted to compensate using prefabulated amulite in the magneto-reluctance housing, but this only exacerbated the side-fumbling in the hyperboloid waveform generators Wrote my PhD dissertation on this. It would've been in the literature for Apple's engineers to find, but unfortunately I lost institutional support to get this into a journal after my college (Mailorderdegrees.com, an FTX University^TM) folded mid-process. | |
| ▲ | m463 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | rumors are the airtag promax has it for $99. | | |
| ▲ | dmd an hour ago | parent [-] | | Sadly the polishing cloth doesn't work on that one |
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| ▲ | glitchc 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | You missed the "strategic use of metamaterials to emanate a negative refractive index" |
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| ▲ | wmeredith 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I think the point is to make the smallest unit of functionality possible and then people can integrate that into their use case using attachments, casings, etc. in a way they see fit. It's a good approach for this product in my opinion. | | |
| ▲ | tavavex 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I think this argument would work better if the AirTag in its minimal form wasn't so teardrop-shaped. It feels almost like it was designed to be difficult to integrate into other environments because it lacks any edges or openings. It ensures that anything that could hold it must be at least as big as the AirTag itself. It really confuses me why they couldn't even allow for a single small hole in its edge - it would still leave attachment up to the user, but make it far more flexible by letting people just hook it onto things. Is it because design had overpowered functionality in this product? Is it because this shape is somehow mandated by the hardware within it? It confuses me. | | |
| ▲ | istjohn 4 minutes ago | parent [-] | | An Apple product in which design takes precedence over usability. Imagine that. |
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| ▲ | chrisfinazzo 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | This might also explain why the first party luggage loop accessory seems to have been (unfortunately) memory-holed. I think third parties still sell them out of excess inventory, but they've been harder to come by in recent times. My current carry-on doesn't have large enough attachment points to easily accommodate the Apple leather case's keyring, so an updated loop would have been welcome. | | |
| ▲ | trillic 41 minutes ago | parent [-] | | Mine is duct taped inside the inner liner of the carryon that has a small zipper for cleaning. |
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| ▲ | traceroute66 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | > Building an attachment point into the tag To be fair, most people I know put their AirTag inside something, e.g. inner pocket of a bag. At which point the necessity for an attachment point becomes somewhat moot. | | |
| ▲ | fainpul 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | Same. I've never seen anyone put an AirTag on a keyring. Oh, wait... |
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| ▲ | ishtanbul 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | this is the smallest attachment loop i've found. It's rock solid
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CPTS8JG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_... | | | |
| ▲ | 542458 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Different people want different attachment types (or no attachment point at all), so it makes sense for that to be external. I've used other trackers with integrated attachment points, and because the attachment point has to be very compact it tends to be flimsy or hard to fit.. vs the Apple one where you can add a larger attachment point that makes sense to you. | | |
| ▲ | peddling-brink 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Are you trying to say that the AirTag is so strictly utilitarian, that they couldn’t have found a spot for a lanyard hole? I disagree, they could have, they didn’t want to. Beyond the look, this sure panders to their accessory partners. How big of an industry is the phone case? Should it even exist? The audacity. | | |
| ▲ | 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | [deleted] | |
| ▲ | myself248 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Right? Nokias had the equivalent of today's "case" built right into the design of the unit, plenty of durable plastic around the vulnerable parts -- the phone would've been considered unfit for sale if it couldn't survive a drop in out-of-the-box condition. By the time you stripped a dumbphone down to be as vulnerable as one of today's is, it'd be a bare PCB. Nah, probably even in that state, I bet it could handle a drop better than a new iPhone straight out of the box. What you buy today isn't a complete phone, it's just the guts. One tumble to pavement and you're out a grand. Heaven help you if you fumble it while trying to install the case that should've been part of it from the beginning. And yet, we still buy them, because the alternatives are from shady manufacturers who never provide updates, and there is no third-party hardware that can run up-to-date iOS. If there was, I'd buy an iNokia in a heartbeat. | |
| ▲ | wat10000 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Yes, the phone case industry should exist. People want different things. Plenty of people are willing to go without a case entirely. For those who want a case, they want different tradeoffs between bulk and protection. They want different textures. It's OK to sell something that isn't all things to all people. | |
| ▲ | wang_li 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Somebody take an x-ray so where know where to drill our own holes. | | |
| ▲ | dylan604 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Already been done https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/05/02/x-rays-show-how-a... | | |
| ▲ | xattt 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | > For the initial disassembly, the AirTag is said to be the hardest to open to access the battery. Though all three could be opened by hand, the AirTag is suggested to be the hardest due to the lack of divots for grip. Does the author lack thumbs? It’s easy to twist the battery open. | | |
| ▲ | CamJN 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | The lack of a divot prevents iFixit from selling an overpriced single use tool that exactly matches the divot shape for $50 USD that just so happens to be the exact same shape and material as a $0.05 guitar pick. Totally unacceptable, won't anyone think of the environment?!?!?!?! |
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| ▲ | arghwhat 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | There are third-party tags out there compatible with both Google and Apple's network that is roughly the same size and use the same battery, yet have a giant lanyard opening in the design to fit anything. Apple could trivially have fit a usable hole if they wanted to. They just don't want to because they get to sell accessories with that now. Also, looking cleaner on its own helps sell even if that is an entirely useless quality for a tag tha tneeds to go into a bloody case. |
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| ▲ | dlcarrier 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Recycled metals have always been cost effective. Recycled plastic is much more expensive than virgin plastic, but it's a very small materials cost to start with, likely totaling only a few cents. |
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| ▲ | Klaster_1 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| How does that compare to previous AirTag? Whats the industry baseline for all of those, maybe gold is 100% recycled anyways in most products? |
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| ▲ | port11 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | This is a great question. For example, the Pixel 10 has a similar recycling profile, although with less recycled plastic. |
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| ▲ | colechristensen 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The wholesale material costs for the plastic, gold plating, and magnets is all just pennies, if that. |
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| ▲ | CGMthrowaway 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I don't see old-gen airtags for sale on the website. Are they throwing them all out? |
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| ▲ | mambo_giro 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | Apple rarely offers direct discounts of closeout or excess merchandise. Instead to clear out back stock they’ll work with partner retailers (Amazon, Best Buy, etc.) who don’t mind the brand perception associated with offering deeper discounts. First-gen AirTags have been on sale on Amazon frequently over the last year, and they’ll probably drop the price again soon. |
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| ▲ | ahoka 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This is just green washing on the level of “93.65% natural ingredients”. |
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| ▲ | port11 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | What level of materials recycling would be required for you to not consider it green washing? It’s a genuine question, since I don’t like Apple and agree that we buy tons of stuff we don’t really need. That said, our bicycles can’t be insured anymore, but having AirTags at least alleviates some of the angst over leaving them in public places. | |
| ▲ | thiht 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It’s never possible for things to be good with people like you. It’s not 100% recycled, which would be better. But surely, this is better than 0% recycled?? | |
| ▲ | reaperducer 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | This is just green washing on the level of “93.65% natural ingredients”. I keep seeing products in the supermarket with big "Made with REAL ingredients!" labels on them. As opposed to what? Imaginary ingredients? Classico pasta sauce is the most recent offender. | | |
| ▲ | ExoticPearTree 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | Chemicals. That’s what they mean by real ingredients: no chemicals. Like orange juice: can be from a chemical powder or real oranges. | | |
| ▲ | snowwrestler 8 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | This is a good example of how easy it is to fool people if they don’t have their own understanding of how things work. Highlighting this has been a priority in my parenting. My child is having a great time trying to scare friends about the dangers of the chemical dihydrogen monoxide, which is found in a surprisingly large number of manufactured foods. | | |
| ▲ | ExoticPearTree 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | Right. And wonder bread is awesome for your health. | | |
| ▲ | snowwrestler 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Wonder Bread is horrible for your health, but it’s not because of “chemicals.” Orange juice is also bad for your health BTW! | |
| ▲ | reaperducer 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Asbestos is all natural. | | | |
| ▲ | array_key_first 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Nobody said it was. But it's not bad because of chemicals, because all bread is created with chemicals. As for natural versus artificial - that's also bullshit. There's many natural ingredients that are poison, and many artificial ones that are good for you. I mean, if I eat home made fried chicken everyday, you can bet your ass I'm not gonna live very long. |
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| ▲ | wmeredith 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | But that's total nonsense. Everything in our physical world (including water, air, food, and human bodies) is made of chemicals. They can be naturally occurring or artificially manufactured. | | |
| ▲ | ExoticPearTree 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | You can nitpick and be pedantic about the wording I used, but if you equate artificial flavors or ingredients with natural ones… | | |
| ▲ | ben-schaaf an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | Could you describe the difference between the artificial flavour vanilin made in a lab, and the natural flavour vanilin extracted from a vanilla bean? | |
| ▲ | ryandrake 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Is it really pedantic? Everything is ultimately a chemical compound. H2O is a chemical. Where do you draw the line between "chemicals" and "not chemicals"? Is it more about what you can find in nature? You can find acetone in nature. | | |
| ▲ | GuinansEyebrows an hour ago | parent [-] | | yeah, this is kind of a definitional example of pedantry. you probably understand what people are trying to say when they talk about "chemicals" but instead of engaging with the actual conversation, you spin off a metanarrative to pick apart the word choice as if that's directly relevant to the point they're trying to discuss. not trying to pick on you specifically, because sure everything's a chemical, and i don't really care to fight about that, but you asked :) | | |
| ▲ | ryandrake an hour ago | parent [-] | | "Chemical" is just a really, really vague and poor word choice. I honestly don't understand what people are trying to say when they use it. Food and chemistry are inextricably intertwined. You can't even talk about food without talking about all of the various components food is made up of. Not a single food item out there isn't made up of chemicals. Some found in nature, some created in a lab or factory process. Some healthy, some not. Some with long names, some with short names. Some have effects on food taste, longevity, appearance. Some are inert. It's really a meaningless word to use in the context of one's food. | | |
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| ▲ | lucideer 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I'd be a little wary of these numbers as regulation around advertising these kinds of figures normally permits mass balance systems[0] (which imo is tantamount to straight-up lying). Mass balance is better than nothing I guess, & I understand the practical challenges with going further, but ultimately it's not what's implied by the marketing. [0] https://www.iscc-system.org/news/mass-balance-explained/ |
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| ▲ | Noaidi 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Just stating the obvious that not buying one of these things that we never seemed to need until they told us we needed it is the only way to have "the environment in mind". |
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| ▲ | reaperducer 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Just stating the obvious that not buying one of these thing that we never seemed to need until they told us we needed it I never thought I needed one until my wife lost her car keys, and the Fiat dealer charged $1,200 for a replacement. And it's not even the electronics that makes them so expensive. Modern car keys aren't like the 1970's where it's just a piece of metal with the edges shaved off. Those little key cutting kiosks at Home Depot can't cope with today's complex engraving. | | |
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| ▲ | insane_dreamer 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| but then the fob also costs $30 :/ |