Ever left your keys in the Grab car or your sling bag in the MRT train, you can now use the Apple AirTag – announced yesterday – to help you track down your lost items. SGEEK got to try the AirTag along with the latest purple iPhone 12 mini.
PURPLE IPHONE 12 MINI
Let’s start first with the purple iPhone 12 mini. It now comes in this new beautiful shade of lilac-like purple, which is also available on the iPhone 12.
Purple seems to be the trendy colour this spring. And I wonder if Apple has been glancing at Samsung’s popular purple S21 in envy and decided to roll one out themselves.
Anyway, I sent the product pictures to a few female colleagues yeseterday when it was announced, and they all exclaimed “So pretty!”.
Indeed, this purple colour looks beautiful on the iPhone 12 mini. The rich and intense colour runs through the flat aluminium edges and precision-milled back glass of the iPhone 12 mini. But otherwise, it is the same 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini launched last year.
I think a lot of ladies (and many gentlemen) will take a liking to this purple iPhone. Just make sure you get a transparent case to use with it. If not, what’s the point of getting a beautiful purple phone and use a black case on it?
AIRTAG
If you are the absent-minded kind that leave your keys or bag on the MRT train or Kopitiam all the time, the AirTag is here to help. It is a small circular device that lets you track your everyday items with Apple’s “Find My” app on iOS or iPadOS.
The AirTag looks like a small white puck from its front and has a polished metallic rear featuring the Apple logo. And if you order straight from Apple online store, you can get free engraving on its white front.
Size wise, the AirTag is slightly bigger than a Singapore 50-cent coin and weighs only 11g. It is rated at IP67 for water and dust resistance, so you do not need to worry if it takes a bit of rain when you attach it to your backpack.
The AirTag features a U1 chip for Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth Low Energy, a built-in speaker, accelerometer, and a user-replaceable CR2032 coin battery. The tracker can last up to a year, according to Apple.
The purple iPhone 12 mini review unit is running the yet-to-be-released iOS 14.5, which is what AirTag requires to work. So, I used it to pair with the AirTag.
Pairing is really easy. Place the AirTag close to the iPhone 12 mini and a window will appear on its display. Tap on Connect and the AirTag is paired!
You can name the AirTag according to the item that you are attaching it to. In the items tab of the Find My app, you will be able to keep track of your AirTag-attached item.
Out of the box, the AirTag does not with any accessories. So, I just chucked the AirTag into a pocket in my backpack for a brief test.
If you are using iPhone 11 or 12 series that are equipped with UWB, you can utilise the Precision Find feature to find your item. This feature allows your iPhone allows to give you visual, haptic and audible feedback, so as to direct you to your lost item. So, you know exactly where and when to turn to get to your item.
Next, I will probably put the AirTag in my car to test, since I never seem to be able to find my car in the big carparks of Vivo City or Resorts World Sentosa. So, stay tuned for the full review.
Both the AirTag (one for S$45; a pack of four for S$149) and the purple iPhone 12 mini (from $1,149) as well as the purple iPhone 12 (from $1,299) will be available in Singapore on Apr 30, with pre-orders starting tomorrow (Apr 23) at 8pm.
